Dream big little one

Mysterious Barricades #4
Mannheim, Germany
zeitraumexit
Invited by Johanna Baumgärtel
Duration: 26 minutes
Photographs by Monika Deimling

 Context:

Founded by German artists Gabriele Osswald and Wolfgang Sautermeister, zeitraumexit has been a cornerstone of Mannheim’s cultural landscape for over 25 years. Recently relocated to the city center, the venue is set within Mannheim’s distinctive grid-like urban structure. Renowned for its wide range of art projects and the performance festival Wunder der Prärie, zeitraumexit provides a vibrant space for performance, theater, and dance productions. Under the leadership of its new director, Johanna Baumgärtel – a former PAS | Performance Art Studies participant – the venue fosters artistic dialogue, integrating various aspects of performance practice.

The performance Dream Big Little One (Mysterious Barricades #4) was staged in a hidden, abandoned former workspace adjacent to zeitraumexit, though invisible from the outside. Accessing the location required navigating an overgrown wasteland reminiscent of a secret garden. The performance site itself was a raw, atmospheric space, covered in sand, rubble, and leaves. I cleared the center with a broom, sweeping the sand outward into a star-shaped pattern, as if the performance itself had exploded into the middle of this desolate space.

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

• Lying in a white bed covered with flour. [The audience enters the space while waves splashing on a shore play from a hidden speaker, filling the otherwise abandoned space.]
• Moving the body slowly on the bed, gradually increasing the intensity of the movements. [Flour rises as dust and falls off the bed onto the floor.]
• Holding two large blue eggs and moving them slowly around the bed, placing them on the bed, then rapidly rolling the bed around the space until one egg falls off. [The egg breaks upon impact, and the movement of the bed stops abruptly.]
• Lifting the bed and placing a plate with wooden wool on top before lighting it. [Flames appear and burn steadily for some time.]
• Drawing a skeleton on the white mattress with charcoal while the fire burns.
• Turning several porcelain plates on the floor. [The plates produce a loud ceramic sound as they spin.]
• Painting a blue egg shape on the front of the white shirt and holding the remaining intact blue egg.
• Moving a book attached to a small guide cross over the action field before setting the book on fire.
• Striking the skeleton drawing on the mattress several times with a stick. [Each strike causes flour to rise as dust from the mattress.]
• Placing porcelain plates on the bed and filling them with red liquid paint. [The bed is moved back and forth, causing the red liquid to spill onto the mattress.]
• Lifting the bed very slowly. [The plates fall one by one onto the floor.]
• Carrying a bowl filled with water while moving a small silver bell in and out of the water. [The sound of the bell changes with each dip into the water.]
• Slowly leaving the space.