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Pflegen

2022 | Care | Durational performance: treatment table, body in underwear and t-shirt, 120min (30min Loop)

The title Pflegen refers to the legal obligation anchored in German hunting practice to preserve and care forests and wild animals (Hegen und pflegen). The works Hegen & Pflegen were conceived for the solo exhibition Waxed City which took place in a peripheral public space in Berlin and aims to draw a parallel between the constant management of nature and that of the body.

The performance highlights the continuous effort against the growth of natural hair as one of the many daily choreographies of body care that the consumers undergo. A treatment table stands on a wasteland that is being reclaimed by nature. A performer walks through the overgrown weeds and approaches the treatment table. She undresses, lies down on the table where she follows a series of simple movements that every client must perform during a depilation process. These movements allow the beautician to reach all the desired areas of the body to apply the wax and remove the hair. The leg movements become more challenging for some parts of the body that are difficult to reach, such as the labia majora or the buttock fold.

The performance was held by Nane Kahle. Funded by Hauptstadtkulturfonds Berlin (HKF) and Senate Departement for Culture and Europe.

WAXED CITY, site-specific exhibition, Allée du stade, Berlin-Wedding, curated by Christof Zwiener, BETON Berlin, 2022  / Project Space Festival, Berlin – Germany | Photo: Laura G. Vidal

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