I greet those gathered outside HOCHHAUS at dusk and ask them to select a horse chestnut from an egg carton, then to follow me please…
When we are all standing in the small open field surrounded by the tall apartment buildings (projects on the edge of Berlin) I take a soft-boiled beet in my right fist and begin shaking/punching/stretching the art repeatedly outward, singing a semi-improvisational framing text…
I then ask people to please take their nut and place it anywhere they choose across/throughout the HOCHHAUS galerie and site, waiting in the field and eating the beet while they do so…
When everyone has placed their nut and returned to the field, I ask the person on the far left (Dimpel Shah) to “take us to your nut” and she leads us to the first beginning….this begins the core performance process: each person takes us to where they’ve placed their nut, I tell that person that when they get bored, think the action is over, or want me to stop for any reason to say “HALT!” Their action will not end until they have voiced this halt.
Dimpel:
Johanna:
Florian:
Uri:
Joel:
Anja:
Anna:
Hori:
Adriana:
Teena:
Hand-drawn eyes bear witness (this one posted facing into the HOCHHAUS office)…
Performance is followed by a discussion moderated by curators of the ‘Im Zentrum der eigenen Peripherie‘ series, Anja Ibsch and Teena Lange.
All photos by Teena Lange.
Esther Marveta Neff 