Anna III — Exile on Main Street
(2010)

The protagonists of this performance are the viewers and their names, which they write on A-4 paper as they enter the Kunsthalle. That makes 40 to 50 names that I want to memorize until it's my turn.

What control do I have in the performance situation when I blindfold myself with a Glarner Tüechli and let the audience navigate me to my performance material, describing to them one by one what I am looking for and where the material can be found in the room? First 4 sawed-off wooden table legs, then 1 pair of old, leather mountain boots that belonged to my mother Anna, then 2 rolls of painter's tape. I hand out the 40 to 50 A4 sheets with the names of the audience members one by one blindfolded and at the same time call out a name from my methodically memorized 'memory list', which of course does not match the name written on the sheet. The spectators attach the name sheets to my body with the painter's tape. After a course outside and back in the hall, I ask the audience to catch a (new) name from me on the leaf tree while I dance to "Shake your hips", an early Rolling Stones song, and sing "Shake your lips" over it.