tableau vivant (Utopien)
(1999)

Concept of the performance "TABLEAU VIVANT" at Kunsthof Zurich
from October 25 to November 5, 1999. 1 hour each time.
This text complements the documentary video.

The event is dominated by three elements, each of which in itself
thematizes the concept of UTOPIA.

- On the back wall is a large charcoal drawing of an infinite horizon. This suggests the UTOPIA of a Swiss "unobstructed view of the Mediterranean". A formative demand of the turbulent 80s youth in Zurich.

- the monitor in the foreground has a large number of people from different cultures quoting the first sentence from the communist manifesto. As a reference to an as yet unfulfilled UTOPIA.

- In the right foreground sits a guitar-playing protagonist wearing a dark-skinned mask modeled on the famous Afro-American rock musician Chuck Berry. His presence as an obviously light-skinned person in a role idealized by him stands as a metaphor for the UTOPIE of being able to exchange identity as well as social and cultural affiliations. The guitar sounds convey a melancholy atmosphere.

In March 2022, Emch, Peter;