Deck Drei Studio, Berlin, 2013
Brushing is a series of performances built through movement among various neighborhoods of Neukölln while scavenging, gathering, and carrying large quantities of brush (fallen branches, sticks, and logs.) Seemingly the residue of urban design, these materials formed the landscape for an improvised score in the Deck Drei collective workspace.
My arms grew with branches which unfurled and extended far beyond the boundaries of my body. An urban oddity. Despite the ancient task of gathering brush to build fires and dwellings, this same action in the context of the city seems out of place, even absurd.
Motivated by a frustration with the sealed-off insular nature of performance spaces, I seek to de- & re-construct the architectural landscapes made by this thicket of brush. Audience members are invited to place associative words inside the installation to begin the performance. The improvisation attempts to imaginatively inhabit and move through shifting landscapes, responding as fully as if I could really give weight into a tree trunk or hang from a branch.