Western Mudras
(2006)

WESTERN MUDRAS
"How would you know that a miracle has happened"
Performance and installation with two videos
12.-18.6.06
Swiss Art Award 06, Basel Exhibition Center
Duration of the performance on 6.6.06: 1h

Performance:
I sit cross-legged and gild my hands with gold leaf.
Then I begin to communicate with the finger alphabet.
In Myanmar I developed and showed the performance in January 05 in a studio community and wrote with my hands: "This is a performance. My name is Irene. I thank you." For the jury and exhibition of the Swiss Art Awards on 6.6.06 I wrote with finger alphabet: "How would you know that a miracle has happened?"

The work is inspired by gold-plated Buddha statues and focuses on the various mudras (hand positions) of the Buddha and their different meanings.
It is about the possibilities of communication and understanding within different cultures, religions and social classes. The finger alphabet evokes associations with the sign language of the deaf-mute, but with a playful, childlike aspect: as children we used it to communicate with each other in secret language.
On the one hand, the gilding of the hands questions the omnipresent wealth gap, but also personal privileges. On the other hand, it creates a link within the artist's own biography with stone sculpture and performance art. This time it is not a sculpture that is gilded, but a living person.

Installation with two videos at the Swiss Art Award 06:
Silent video installation during the exhibition of the Swiss Art Award: On the left monitor you can see me gilding my hands (1h) and on the right monitor I write the sentence "How would you know that a miracle has happened?" using finger alphabet for 4:30 minutes.