WALTER PALMER SHOT A LION is an ongoing research project on masses in digital and physical space.
Initial background of this project were two incidents:
1. In 2015, dentist Walter Palmer posted a trophy photo of Cecil, a lion he had hunted down (and shot) at National Park Hwange in Zimbabwe. A shit storm arose in social media. Death threads, trolls of all sorts and a minister stating, that human life in Africa is still more worth than the life of an animal, were among the many reactions.
2. In Cologne early 2018, were I currently live, VERDI organized a big strike. On that day, I had to walk to the main station because also no public transportation was going. As I walked down the river side, hundreds and thousands of people who joined the protest, made their way towards me. I was impressed by the sheer quantity of bodies, by the flow of a moving entity. I remember, that I thought how abstract ‘follower’ numbers are. And that when you actually see real people it does have a strong impact.
These two events led me to engage with the question of masses:
What defines a mass, how does a mass come together, how does one become aware of a mass, how does a mass organize space?
The research has brought two implementations:
WALTER PALMER SHOT A LION: A Choreographic Score For The Many was centered around the mass itself. This performative piece was much about finding and developing codes of communication and movement. I was interested in group dynamics and if/how a bystander would perceive this group.
The second part, WALTER PALMER SHOT A LION: The Sequel, focused on the individual and the quest for information within the mass. You can find everything in the internet and every situation in life can supposedly be solved: Build around personal questions in the HOW TO format, the performers searched for their own interests resepectively answers.
Performers, supporting performers: Andreas Niegl, Anchi Trinh, Adrian Witzel, Antonia Koerfer, Bela Usabaev,
Biniam Graffe, Bilal Bahardi, Boris Maximov, Constantin Leonhard, Dilara Er Raika, Deren Ercenk,
Emily Searle, Elinor Hasselberg, Esteban Monsalve, Franca Scholz, Gina Bojahr, Hila Gluskinos, Hye Young Sin, Hanieh Bozorgnia, Jiyun Park, Jonatan Omer Mizrahi, Jose Noriega,
Jule Lippold, Julius Metzger, Jonathan Fuss, Karen Zimmermann, Kurt Heuvens, Kieran Kaul, Lisi Hoegler, Levin Krassel,
Lilian Villalba, Lukas Stark, Laura Gonzales, Max Mauro Schmid, Marios Pavlou, Manuel Boden,
Marie-Claire Delaber, Nikolai Meierjohann, Nikolai Szymanski, Naama Heiman, Nathan Schönwolf, Paula Pedraza,
Polina Korovina, Pitt Wenninger, Roman Wegera, Sarah San, Santiago Alvarez, Sophia Seiß, Sky Miriam Carranza,
Sophia Groening, Svenja Wichmann, Susan Helen Miller, Svea Mausolf, Thomas Lambertz, Valeria Matehha, Yue Wang
Movement directors: Hila Gluskinos & Sophia Seiß
Necklaces & rings developed in collaboration with Thomas Lambertz
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