Projects—Master PPS Performing Public Space

Jun 29

Jun 29 EMBODYING THE LIMINAL – CHOREOGRAPHING ARTIFICIAL PUBLIC SPACES

Class 2019/20

My research was a journey of deconstructing my notions of public space: I started off wanting to intervene in some of Berlin’s crowded and hypnotic transit spaces, passed through embodying the being in transit as a liminal state (van Gennep, 1909/Turner, 1964) and arrived at not knowing anymore what and where public space was. Inspired by Stavrides’ “city of thresholds” (2007) I conceptualised public space as embodied in interactional encounters with the unknown other and, therefore, – regardless of its architectural design – as inherently a threshold, a liminal space between self and other, here and there, familiar and strange. This threshold is inhabited by the uncertain encounter, and – as thresholds do – it simultaneously separates and connects, performs a distance while inviting to be crossed. The COVID-19 pandemic, that disrupted my research, as well created a threshold between a previous, well-known state and an unknown future that will be – at least to some extent - ‘other’. Combining my notion of public space as an ephemeral threshold with this omnipresent global threshold, I started to create artifi cial public spaces as research into the very essence of public space and as a way to reimagine how public spaces can be inhabited differently.

SPECIAL THANKS
To my colleagues from DIE KOMPANIE and all the collaborators in this process: Marwa Almokbel, Manaf Alnabwani, Omar Alshaer, Shirin Ashkari, Heloise Blain, Hannah Bracht, Sasha Chrukina, Mika Clemens, Jobina Diez, Paulin Fichtner, Diwali Hasskan, Bernhard Heidbreder, Ilaria Iannaccone, Gianluca Iori, Britta Kerger, KMu, Therry Kornath, Lio Kornath, Andrey Korolenko, Polina Lyapina, Franziska Maling, Josephine Nahrstedt, Coline Quintin, Lovatiana Erica Rakotobe, MichèleAnge Ralaiheilinarivony, Hery Mampionona Randriantahiana, Anjara Rasamiarison, Stanislav Salnikov, Geraldine Leong Sang, Anna Sapetina, Iyas Sari, Henna-Elise Selkälä, Andry Te, Nazaria Tooj, Thomas Walter, Alexander Wiehardt. And, to all my inspiring colleagues and coaches of this program.

Léonie Naomi Baur

Leonie’s background and current practice are in contemporary dance, choreography, and performance art. Her artistic practice is her way to reflect on each aspect of life. She strongly believes in the transformative capacity of artistic practice and therefore its political agency. Being born randomly into a highly privileged context, she feels the responsibility to reflect on her own privileges in how she navigates through this world, in her position as an artist, and in the art she (co-) creates. Working almost exclusively in collective and participatory contexts gives her the possibility to locate her perspective and experience in a multiplicity of perspectives and experiences. In 2017 Leonie co-founded the participatory performance project DIE KOMPANIE with which she collaboratively conducted the practical work for this research. DIE KOMPANIE defines itself as a social and artistic living body that promotes individual emancipation through art and intervention in society.

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