Performance: Karl Karner
Vocals: Sarah Sternat
Music: Michael Funk
In the performance by visual artist Karl Karner, which was staged in the context of his exhibition ‘fichtengrau’, central aspects of his artistic practice are manifested in a multi-sensory experience.
Surrounded by the exhibition situation of his monumental sculptures, Karner unfolds a processual action by constructing an ephemeral structure from bamboo and insulating tape, while a smoking, intensely smelling substance made of nettles and milk bubbles on the floor. At the same time, Karner throws lumps of clay onto the walls of the gallery space in order to fix various objects such as wildlife warning reflectors, mushrooms and plants to the surfaces.
This scenery is accompanied musically by Michael Funk, whose sonic interventions are performed with drumsticks and a series of electric pickups on one of Karner's bronze sculptures. The dystopian sounds created unfold a haunting soundscape that intensifies the atmosphere of the performative action and transforms it into a peculiarly immersive backdrop. This performative tableau is completed by the vocals of Sarah Sternat, who, lying rigidly on the floor, intones Karner's sometimes cryptic words of wisdom.
Overall, the performance refers to the fragile relationship between space, body, material and nature. In a constellation that understands space as a place of transition between chaos and order, form-giving and wilderness, ritual and chance, the recipients are placed in a state of irritation and contemplation.
