Playa Pocitos is the name of an area in the east of Montevideo and is a bay hemmed by a beach promenade and houses. Especially in the summertime, this spot becomes a vivid, well-visited place in town.
In my performance I would like to revert this feeling of business and of many people into a place of meditation, to halt, to marvel and wonder.
The spectator will find combined Japanese zen-wisdom, Uruguayan sand and German stoic composure.
With nothing but a rake, the sand of Playa Pocitos will be put in form. The Kare-san-sui, which can be translated as dry or dried-out area, serve in their handling as places for meditation. The lines that are usually drawn into gravel do not show a beginning nor an end and represent and imitate rivers and streams.
It will be the artist, a rake, a state of zen, a lot of sand and the sun. What else would you need for a performance?
"I'm stressed.'
"I don't sleep well.'"
"Time is running. I should be running but I don't"
"Easy does it."
"It's a hard knock life."
"It sure is."
"I'm stressed. I need to relax."
"Do some yoga, heard its great for your mind and body."
"Or some meditation. Meditation is supposed to be awesome. Just get down and chill and...ya know...just don't worry. Focus on the real shit."
"I hate yoga. Its so pathetic."
"Anyways man, 't was nice meeting you, gotta go, catch a train."
"Yup, see ya..."
Stadt für alle! - this Slogan meaning "City for everyone", can be read on walls all over Frankfurt for the past year and is an expression of a feeling that the city has long lost its ideal moment in which it is meant for everyone. Raising rents as well as aimed city planning have resulted in the formation of distinct areas in which people of the same milieu live but where a mobility between these areas becomes more and more unlikely.
Stadt für alle! - an Expression so basal , democratic and so utterly important for a societal idea. The phenomenon of gentrification is also one of marginalization which is seen not only in Frankfurt but in cities all over the world.
The Palacio Legislativo in Montevideo is accessible but for security reasons, just as with any other institutional building, this access remains restricted. The government, voted for by the public, makes decisions in this building, following the lines of a democracy as representatives of the people.
But where is the place for the people? What would a palace for the people look like a Palacio de Popolo?
The area captured by the camera in front of the Palacio Legislativo is supposed to become the ground for my palace. It is supposed to be open for everyone, 24h. A place to connect, to get to know people and to exchange ideas. A scaled-down replica of the Palacio Legislative made out of tents and cardboard boxes thus becomes what the original cannot achieve - to become a place for everyone.
YOU SPIN ME RIGHT ROUND BABY RIGHT ROUND
After having watched at the camera for several minutes, hours, days - it became apparent how the eye got attached to certain movements that happened again and again due to the way the traffic is led. Streams of cars are flooding around the governmental building without end. The circular movement around the building is supposed to be copied by people, By imitating the the rounds of the cars. this performance would concentrate on aspects like time, perspective and perception but could also be read as a wink towards politics and its tendencies to go in circles.
The first sketch "Marblevideo" aims at working with the 24 different kinds of marble being used in the architecture of the Palacio Legislative. Huge papers are to cover the green area right in front of the building, thus linking the two with one another whilst referring to the geometrical structure of the area.
