Off script

I first met Anna Poetter when on her laptop at the next table in Café Schwabing she was editing soundscapes she had recorded in various Munich cemeteries. It is fair to say that I was mightily intrigued by this performance/installation/documentation undertaking.

A while later Anna invited me to join the participatory art project 'Broken/Unbroken'. I threw myself into it with playful gusto and for many months there was the egg standing on my desk... until it finally eggs-ploded.

This was almost exactly three years ago. Today Anna is working on a new project which is intended to culminate next year in an exhibition titled 'The Church Of Money'. Currently she is undertaking what she calls a pilgrimage collecting artefacts and experiences, particularly in centres of finance such as Zurich, Frankfurt and the places where banknotes are printed. She is also travelling with a pop-up tent for accommodation and with what amounts to a 'begging bowl', seeking the funding her venture calls for. One of her ports of call a few weeks ago was Art Basel, whence the photos shown above. Her 'Ofrenda III' blog in German is here. 

Another challenging young woman was also an Art Basel interloper. Milo Moiré's 'The Script System' performance has an interesting underlying concept.

"...it is inspired by the script theory of cognitive psychology. Each of us knows these scripts... recurrent, stereotyped action sequences. Especially early in the morning on the way to work, we function almost automatically, often without awareness of our environment. This everyday blindness I wanted to break through [with} my performance."

Milo left home one morning, took a Basel tram filled with fellow-commuters, paused to enjoy her takeaway coffee and finally reached her destination. She followed the kind of routine 'script' which dominates the everyday lives of so many of us. She certainly invited us to pose some questions. Her website is here.