CABINET OF EXHAUSTION. The Performances

As part of the exhibition of the same name (see CABINET OF EXHAUSTION. The exhibition), performances took place over four evenings. Part of the concept was for Otmar Wagner to work with material from the exhibition’s central object – the shelf system / material archive. A variety of performances, some of them improvised, were staged during these evenings. VOCAL NAPS (Monika Rabofsky, Anne Glassner, Nicole Krenn, Hartwig Hermann), who had already been part of SICK IN EUROPE in 2019, developed a special acoustic spatial arrangement. Toti Denaro played various tamburellos in interaction with the sound objects and the actions of Otmar Wagner.
Berit Glanz, who was due to give a live reading of her text ‘Where is the pen shell? On the loss of sensory experiences in the climate catastrophe’ , was unable to travel due to the difficult pandemic situation. Instead, she sent an audio recording of her text, which was then pressed onto a record (a one-off vinyl) and played during the performances. A lecture-performance by Lars Moritz scheduled for the exhibition’s opening day had to be cancelled at short notice due to illness.
Due to coronavirus regulations, the number of spectators was strictly limited, and face masks were obligatory for everyone.

A few notes / random thoughts / quotes about the project can be found in booklet no. 12 from WUK performing arts.