Tanja London

2020

 UNDERNEATH [28:08 min]

is the 3rd part of my Erosion of Democracy series ... while the first two ask how democracy is changed underneath people's feet and what the actual capital of a democratic society is ... this one digs deep and investigates what roles inherited stress and trauma, fear, anger, guilt, shame, as well as learned behavior play in the rise of extreme leadership. In ‘UNDERNEATH’ the performers grapple with holding two spaces, that of white privilege, and a reckoning with its history of cruelty - past and present. It is an attempt to find pathways to avoid repeating history and changing habitual patterns. The perspectives of the performers form the lens of this investigation: A German, bisexual woman descendent of parents who were children in the Second World War, and a queer man. The artists bring into focus the privilege white skin provides and the weight of its inheritance. They emphasize the transformative healing needed in order to overcome habitual patterns of Otherness and the perpetuation of power structures including violence ranging from self harm, racism to armed conflict.

commissioned by

research & concept
artistic collaborators & performance
artistic collaborator, lighting & camera
artistic collaborator, projections & text
digital layers & edit
music
breast bricks
location

sponsored by

thanks