April 10 2023
Taborkirche, Berlin
Co-performer: Romain Camille Bertheau, Wei Kang Beh
30’
The performance took place in the Tabor Church in Berlin, a protestant church also used as performance venue. I was fascinated by the persons, gestures and objects that are present in that space. The spectacle already exists for me, and the performance would only need to build a frame.
Due to rising heating costs, the church has decided to hold ceremonies in the only heated room at its entry. Yet the church space needs to be maintained for touristic attraction, while the homeless people could stay overnight every Tuesday in the heated room. In order to move the liturgical objects quickly back and forth to their original position, wheels were put on the altar, stands, piano, candles etc, with plastic caps for fixing positions. The spatial set-up of the ceremony is mostly a collective effort and followed by gatherings with cake and coffee at the church bar by the entry. It is a spectacle to watch.
The performance is made out of five phrases that are echoes of the found gestures in space, extracted and freed from their functions and semantics in original context. These phrases are fragmented in pieces, stretched in time and shifted in space, as the narratives weave between. The sequences take reference from liturgical ceremonies, as the wind chime marks the beginning and ending, while every phrase starts with number plates for indication of chorus; they are hints, holding space for imagination to complete the fiction.
The sun goes down. (as forecasted)
The windchime rings. (and again)
The chair falls on the ground. (and put into its place)
The bird flies away. (and drops)
The fire is lit. (and there comes the light)
