Different Drum

“The dance of the receptors #9”
Zgorzelec, Poland 2023
Dom Kultury, Stre!fen Performance Art Festival
Invited by Stre!fen e.V.
Duration: 32 minutes
Photographs: Monika Deimling

 Context:

The performance Different Drum was presented as part of the Stre!fen Performance Art Festival 2023. This festival connects the two border cities, Görlitz (Germany) and Zgorzelec (Poland), through site-specific performance art. The River Neiße, which winds through both cities, forms the natural border between Poland and Germany, shaping daily life for the citizens on either side. Stre!fen Festival focuses on transcending these borders – both physical and symbolic – through performance art.

The chosen location for the performance was in front of the Dom Kultury (House of Culture) in Zgorzelec, Poland.

The entrance of this striking sandstone building features a wide staircase framed by two expansive landings, four majestic columns, and three large doors. I used this architectural setting as a vast canvas, placing performance images throughout the space, and engaging with its grandeur and structure.

Video documentation of the performance
11:42 minutes
Camera: Emrah Gökdemir
2023

Description of actions:
A collage of performance images and sounds is created by executing the following actions with selected material.

– Wobbling a porcelain coffee cup on a matching saucer and moving slowly backward on the stairs. [The porcelain objects make a clinking sound.]
– Lightning a small smoke ball inside the cup. [Turquoise smoke rises.] Standing still and continuing to move backward when the smoke is gone.
– Removing the four red chairs hanging from the flagpoles on the columns. [The chairs are attached to coiled ropes and turn and swing in front of the columns.]
– Painting a blue rectangle on the shirt and pants.
– Tying a doll’s dress in front of the face.
– Wiggling a stack of white porcelain plates in the hands. [The loud sound of plates clattering can be heard clearly.]
– Sitting on the white chair under the “poetree”, taking a sip of water from a glass and gargling loudly.
– Lighting the green cardboard letters hanging from the branches. [The letters catch fire, burn for a moment, and then glow for the rest of the performance – white smoke rises from the glowing letters.]
– With light movements floating a blue curtain over the steps. [The white smoke from the green letters mixes with the movements of the curtain.]
– Taking two “M” letters from the “Poetree” and tying them to the head like a crown.
– Standing over the goat and lifting the doll’s dress while water is poured from a white teapot onto the floor; the last drops are poured into the shirt pocket. [The water mixes with red pigment and turns the shirt red.]
– Sliding all porcelain plates down onto the table. [The plates fall off the table and shatter on the stairs – only one survives.]
– Climbing onto the left landing; holding a yellow painted canvas in front of face; lighting a yellow smoke torch; moving the body slightly back and forth.
– Climbing to the right landing; pouring a bag of peas on the drum. [A loud drum roll is clearly audible for a longer while.]
– Putting the doll’s dress on two sticks. [The dress now has “legs”.]
– Slowly leaving the scene together with the dress.