Performers were asked to read out any HOW TO question they would want to answer.
Upon the made decision, they searched the internet for answers. They read, played and/or showed the content they found relevant.
Performance was not limited to a specific time duration. The performers decided when the question was sufficiently answered.
Among the questions posed were:
HOW TO...
- talk to a snake
- disappear
- tell a joke
- vomit right
- use grinder
- purify water
- fix a broken relationship
- survive a night in the woods
- be a better son
- avoid contact
- treat a cut
- vogue right
- deal with neighbors
- fall out of love
- grow shrooms
- ...
- ...
- ...
Performance at PRISKA PASQUER
Performance at GOLD + BETON
video soon..
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: Anchi Trinh, Bela Usabaev, Caetano Schiller, David Lichter, Dingjun Lou, Ghanbari Emmam, Hanieh Bozorgnia,
Hend Samy Elbalouty, Hye Young Sin, Jessica Gisbert, Jonathan Omer Mizrahi, Karen Zimmermann, Kieran Kaul, Lilian Villalba, Levin Krassel, Luisa Stricker,
Max Mauro Schmid, Marios Pavlou, Marie-Claire Delaber, Nathan Schönwolf, Roman Wegera, Thomas Lambertz
Necklaces developed in collaboration with Thomas Lambertz
Credit stills/photos:
PRISKA PASQUER: Mareike Tocha, Karl-Heinz Land
GOLD + BETON: Nikolai Meierjohann, Meryem Erkus, Karen Zimmermann
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