Performances for Corona-Blues

Walking with an empty suitcase,
Wearing Isolation,
Escaping from lock-down,
Around home

Listening to the world,
Feeling the vibration from the earth through the hands,
Generating noise,
As if it is the only life sign
Seeing tiny things
As if they are new

Walking and walking
through the street,
Something is still missing,
Being together,
Sharing the Blues
Dancing with the Blues,

So here come the invitations. (2020)

• Location: In a large, open square in a city
• Duration: Each Part approximately 30 Minutes
• Performers: Volunteers recruited via social media
• Materials: Each participant has an empty suitcase—preferably large, made of hard material, and rolling and a headphone with own favorite music
• Setting: "Don't Know-Mind" and patience for silence.

At the beginning, all participants turn off their phones together. The guide leads the way as the participants walk silently behind. Sudden pauses come and go. After the walk, which ends with mutual bows, the performance concludes.

The first performances were on 4.9.2021 in Frankfurt, by commune 6x3. Still available to do the performances.

“Life goes on. It goes on. It goes. It will be gone.”

From this realization, the idea emerged to walk with an empty suitcase. A shared, aimless wandering, where everyone is on their own. The suitcase often accompanied me as I commuted between Frankfurt, my home, and KHM. It became the emotional burden of the chronically ill and newly minted mother-artist that I always carried with me. When the suitcase was mostly empty, it clattered loudly, producing fascinating sounds. It was especially striking when I suddenly stopped. The vibration that flowed through my hand left a resonance within me after it faded away. I felt liberated. Liberated from what, I cannot name, but I sense that one of those things was isolation. The connection to the earth made me feel connected to others.

This gave rise to the thought of experiencing this with multiple people: a walk with an empty suitcase through one's own neighborhood, in silence—a nonverbal city tour.

In 2019, I graduated from KHM. Then came the pandemic. I was thrown back into isolation once more, this time with a kindergarten child and a husband working from home. Fortunately, this time, isolation affected the whole world—solidarity in isolation. Sympathy began to arise within me. I reconsidered the idea in light of the Corona Blues.

Everyone suffers. This performance is especially dedicated to those who suffer from longing for far-off places. In this prolonged pandemic, autistic behaviors manifest: a compulsion to withdraw and create a protective space despite the yearning for contact. This gave rise to the desire to share my experiences from my thesis project, “100 Days - What is Possible,” at KHM with the world. I created a leporello titled “Performances for Depression,” consisting of performance instructions that can be carried out alone at home.

Additionally, I invite participation: to accept the current situation—the extended time of the pandemic, just as it is—and to explore what is still possible. Finding a way to take care of oneself.

Walking, letting go of walking, wandering aimlessly, feeling everything that happens with one's senses—together but also alone. Flânerie meets walking meditation.