On Earthbound Squatters: “It was a dance about pee. Would they make us pee? How long would it last? Did everyone else remember to go to the toilet before we came in? I shifted my beer uneasily in my hands, not wanting to drink it. (…) One of the strongest taboos in Western society is to admit to having a body, something that smells, breathes, excretes, gets hurt, and breaks. It is okay to have one, as long as it is used as a means for other things: we can adorn and embellish it like we could do with a house. We can brag about its strength when we have dominated it through exercise and willpower; when we show it naked, it is with the connotation of sexuality or horror. (…) I would have imagined a piss performance playing on the dirty, the sexual, and saying a big ‘fuck you’ to the audience – here’s my piss, it’s gross, fucking deal with it. But this show approached piss with an innocent curiosity.
Frances Breden and Esther Nelke on COVENBERLIN
Concept & choreography: Carrie McILwain & Johanna Ackva | Performance: Johanna Ackva, Josephine Brinkmann, Carrie McILwain, Sarah McKee, Farina Meyer, Pauline Payen, Érica Zìngano | Sound: Joëlle Serret | Photos © Johanna Ackva.
On Earth Bound Squatters: “It was a dance about pee. Would they make us pee? How long would it last? Did everyone else remember to go to the toilet before we came in? I shifted my beer uneasily in my hands, not wanting to drink it. (…) One of the strongest taboos in Western society is to admit to having a body, something that smells, breathes, excretes, gets hurt, and breaks. It is okay to have one, as long as it is used as a means for other things: we can adorn and embellish it like we could do with a house. We can brag about its strength when we have dominated it through exercise and willpower; when we show it naked, it is with the connotation of sexuality or horror. (…) I would have imagined a piss performance playing on the dirty, the sexual, and saying a big ‘fuck you’ to the audience – here’s my piss, it’s gross, fucking deal with it. But this show approached piss with an innocent curiosity.
Frances Breden and Esther Nelke on COVENBERLIN
Concept & choreography: Carrie McILwain & Johanna Ackva | Performance: Johanna Ackva, Josephine Brinkmann, Carrie McILwain, Sarah McKee, Farina Meyer, Pauline Payen, Érica Zìngano | Sound: Joëlle Serret | Photos © Johanna Ackva.