Perlude

Mysterious Barricades #2
GAT – Tirana Art Gallery, Tirana, Albania
part of the exhibition THE END OF SAD WORDS with Monika Deimling
Curator Edit Pula
Duration: 23 minutes
Photographs by Monika Deimling

Context:

The second performance of the cycle “Mysterious Barricades” was presented as part of the exhibition THE END OF SAD WORDS by Monika Deimling & BBB Johannes Deimling at GAT – Tirana Art Gallery, Tirana, Albania. Curated by Edit Pula, the exhibition showed photographs, installations, embroidery and video works. One place in the exhibition space was reserved for the performance, just the needed materials for it were placed on the spot. After the performance the left behind landscape became part of the whole exhibition and completed the whole space arrangement.

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

– Entering the exhibition space with a blue alarm clock attached to a guiding cross, the left hand is covered with white paint. [The alarm clock is constantly ringing.]
– Painting the face, neck and throat white by moving the hand slowly back and forth over the head.
– Turning off the sound of the alarm clock.
– Pouring water into all four trouser pockets. [Inside the pockets is red pigment and when the water touches the red pigment red stains appear and run down the trousers.]
– Kneeling in front of the big frame and throwing the red petals that are inside up against the wall until the frame is empty. [The falling petals create a soft sound.]
– Taking two bundles of dried wheat and slowly shaking them, moving backwards to the wall and place my head inside the green chair that is hanging at the wall. [A soft sound of the rattling wheat is hearable.]
– Lifting up the chair with the shoulders and increase the shaking of the wheat bundles. [The wheat starts breaking and falling on the ground.]
– Hanging the frame at the wall, there where the chair was hanging before.
– Bending the green chair until it breaks into pieces. [The chair isn’t easy to break, it deforms in different shapes before it partly breaks.]
– Sticking forks into two carrots and placing them into the landscape. [Four forks create legs for the carrots, so that they can stand.]
– Painting with yellow paint several dots on my shirt.
– Binding with white bandages the broken chair together.
– Drawing with charcoal black lines on my shirt. [The yellow dots and the black lines create the image of a bundle of wheat on the shirt.]
– Binding a loaf of bread onto my face and with my fingers softly pulling out a little silver bell that is inside the bread. [A light bells sound appears.]
– Ringing the bell while hanging the green chair into frame.