November 2016
Performance at the Art Forest in Forchtenstein
Inspired by the cave paintings of the Paleolithic era, the performance draws on archaic rituals of depiction and veneration, transposing them into a contemporary context. A woman dressed in business attire acts in the forest as a priest-like mediator between the world of humans and the gods. Using simple tools, she paints modern prestige symbols—such as a luxury watch, a Chanel bag, a yacht, and a diamond—onto a large rock.
In reference to the Paleolithic visual worlds of Lascaux or Chauvet, where hunting scenes and animals are portrayed as essential prey, this performance explores the transformation of collective desires. The ancient pursuit of food and survival has become a hunt for status symbols and material abundance in the age of turbo-capitalism.
Accompanied by prayer-like invocations, the performer does not plead for protection or harvest, but for access to the “prey” of the present—objects of consumption, excess, and social distinction. The work critically reflects on the shift from spiritually motivated symbolic systems to profane projections of desire, and raises the question: Which gods do we worship today?
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