A manifestation for the quasi-public #1–5
Solo performance
The performance A manifestation for the quasi-public proposes to put oneself in the perspective of a lung. An audio composition of analogue textile noises fills the exhibition space, in which there are spectators, a microphone on stands, and a video projection. A breathing score, interrupted by sequences of spoken text, leads the performer to the floor, and makes her stand up again and again. The breathed air creates a loose, but urgent, narrative in which the non-living – such as the CO2 emissions from Indian cotton factories –does not stand in opposition to the breathing body, but instead creates a new composition. The non-living intrudes into our spaces and transforms itself from a background noise into something desiring, something that demands something from us. The performance thus situates its own consideration in a process of an active dissolution of boundaries.
A manifestation for the quasi-public was first shown in 2018 at the 6th edition of the International Moscow Biennale for Young Art and at Pro Helvetia's Living Room at Art Basel. Subsequently, the solo performance was continually developed. For the version at the exhibition My grammar and (y)ours? at OnCurating Project Space in Zurich, the performance was expanded to include a spoken text. Other venues included the Aargauer Kunsthaus (selection 18) and the exhibition Digital Ecologies at the Center for Contemporary Art “Ancient Bath” in Plovdiv (BL) in 2019.
The performance text appears in the publication Writing the body with the body – Essays, Texts and Performances (Volume B) by Stefanie Knobel.

Performance view A manifestation for the quasi-public, 2018, Aargauer Kunsthaus. Photo: Samrat Banerjee

Performance view A manifestation for the quasi-public, 2018, OnCurating Project Space. Photo: Miwa Negoro

Performance view A manifestation for the quasi-public, 2018, OnCurating Project Space. Photo: Miwa Negoro

Performance view A manifestation for the quasi-public, 2019, Center for Contemporary Art Plovdiv 'Ancient Bath'. Video still: Dimitrina Sevova