“Stairway live” performance (in two parts)
2003-2005 (see also “the Stairway at St.Paul’s”)
L'Escalier au Jacques Coeur, Bourges (F)
I developed my video work “the Stairway at St.Paul’s” into a live performance that I executed between 2003 and 2005. This way I was able to show it to a live-audience in galleries and festivals around the globe.
First the audience watched me producing incomprehensible movements and sounds for about ten minutes that reminded one of art-performances in the 60-ies and 70-ies or a Dadaist reading of a Kurt Schwitters poem. All this was recorded live on video.
After a break of approximately half an hour the audience was shown the video footage that I now had edited, reversed and accompanied with an instrumental track of music.
The baffled audience watched itself and me on video, moving and gesturing in reverse, but resulting in a distorted version of the song ‘Stairway to Heaven’. The awkward looking performance from half an hour before had transformed into something oddly credible.
the Stairway at FACT, Liverpool
WHAT THE AUDIENCE SAW DURING THE LIVE PERFORMANCE, PART I (EXCERPT)
BACKSTAGE DURING THE BREAK TO EDIT THE MOVIE (EXCERPT)
HOW THE AUDIENCE REACTED TO THE FINAL RESULT
(watch the guy in the grey shirt at 7.05 min)
The Bourges performance was produced by Alanna Lockward