PERFORMANCES 2000-2012
BBB Johannes Deimling Website: Email: Phone: Skype:
www.bbbjohannesdeimling.de / http://pas.bbbjohannesdeimling.de bbb@bbbjohannesdeimling.de +49 (0)1577 9585675 / +47 90806079 bbb.johannes.deimling
i could PAE Performance Art Event / Rotterdam, Netherlands / 2012 / 5 min
I am sitting in front of my selected Material for a performance and think what I could do with it. When I have found the solution for to make a performance with this materials I am standing up and leave the space. Photo: Monika Sobczak
blanc #8 international performance art festival Bergen / Bergen / Norway / 2012 / 300 min
The performance took place in a cell of the old prison in Bergen, Norway. The cell was covered by 200 kg flour and flowers were laying underneath the white cover. On the four walls were 4 big paper sheets hanging and I was sitting on a small bench allover covered by flour and holding a bouquet of roses in my hands. During the 5 hours duration of the performance I moved in extreme slow motion tempo through the cell and left tracks on the flour floor. With charcoal I drew windows on the wall and with the colored petals of the flowers I painted childish
impressions of the world outside, like a bouquet of flowers, curtains, birds, ... During the time I developed patterns of movements and drawings and repeated them four times. Towards the end I drew with charcoal all windows black and left the cell and the prison. the performance is the 8th part of the series blanc [living images] that I have started in 2000. Photo: Monika Sobczak
around the world #1 GuangzhouLive Performance Art Festival / Guangzhou, China / 2011 / 14 min
I create a collage out of various actions. I show the audience a sign with the word “silence”, while walking around a heap of earth. Slowly I rumple the paper and place it in the middle inside the heap of earth. I inflame the earth and spread with my naked feet the earth and form a circle. I take a fish and a rope and dress the fish like a tie around my neck. With chalk I draw on the outlines of the earth circles grass, houses, figures and trees in a childish manner. I take the fish and rub it with its face on the ground around the earth circle so that the
traces of the fish cross out the chalk drawings. I open an onion and rub the two half’s a longer while on my eyes. Black liquid is running out of my mouth. I grab ‘something’ in the air and put this into my pocket; after a few times I take out of my pocket glitter and let it slowly fall on the earth circle. From the middle of the earth circle I take the rumpled paper from the beginning, unfold it and show it to audience while walking around. Photo: GuangzhouLive
all saints #1 Place de la performance / Paris, France / 2011 / 21 min
I create a collage with different small actions. With my feet I spread earth in a half circle in front of a white wall. With chalk I draw a yellow circle on the wall in the height of my head. I lit up two red candles and distinguish them on my white shirt, I repeat this three times. I grab ‘something’ in the air and put this into my pocket and take out of my pocket noodle letters and throw them back in the audience. I peel a potato and bandage it right after. I draw sunbeams around the yellow circle. I put flowers in my shirt pocket and
place slices of raw ham on my face and pluck the flowers and place them in my face, there were the eyes are. I rip off the pocket from the shirt and connect it to a string on the wall and hoist it up. I open an onion and rub the two half’s a longer while on my eyes. Black liquid is running out of my mouth. I set the earth on fire, take earth and paint the sun at the wall brown. At the end I throw golden stars in the audience and leave the place. Photo: Monika Sobczak
leaking memories # 5 S T O R E Contemporary / Dresden, Germany / 2011 / 45 min
I am sitting on a brown, wooden chair. My right foot is standing on a pile of books and in my left hand I am holding a bouquet of red roses. In slow motion I am standing up and go in front of a white wall with the bouquet of red roses. i start to softly pat the wall with the blossoms. i repeat this movement several times while increas-
ing the force until i am bashing the roses against the wall. Slowly I go to the other side of the gallery and paint a house with black, liquid coal out of my mouth. I am binding the books around my head and ripe off several pages and leave the place. Photo: Danilo Barsch
leaking memories # 4 Frau Freitag Performance Festival / Art Academy / Karlsruhe, Germany / 2011 / 16 min I am creating a collage out of various small actions. I sit on a pile of books and bind a fish like a tie around my neck; I stand on the pile of books and write the german word “ideal” as high as I can on the wall; I am grabbing ‘something’ in the air and putting this into my pocket; after a few times I take out of my pocket cotton wool and let it drop on the floor; I take a loaf of bread and open it, from the inside of the bread are falling golden small bells on the floor; I put petrol on the two
half’s of the bread and inflame it; slowly I put the half’s together and distinguish the flames; I open the books and bind them around my head; I put golden glitter on the fish; pour milk out of a watering can on the floor; I ripe off some pages from the books on my head; take off the books from my head; unbind the fish from my neck and push it slowly through milk on the floor; I take noodle letters into my mouth and splutter them into the audience and leave the space. Photo: Pietro Pellini
friendly fire Seanahk 3 Performance Art Festival / Haapsalu, Estonia / 2011 / 15 min the performance took place in an hangar of a former russian military base in Haapsalu, Estonia. I enter the space from the back of the hangar. I hang my white shirt on clothes hanger. I pick up a small, silver pig made out of porcelain and hold it like a trophy while entering into the space. I place the silver pig on the floor and throw several Molotov cocktails against the wall. Fire is lighting up the space. I go back to the clothes hanger and exchange my army top with the white
shirt and go back into the space, where I lit up a candle and get very close to the burning candle. while the shirt is starting to burn I am taking it off and distinguish the flames. I take the silver again in my hands and I am leaving the space while showing it as a trophy. Photo: Matthias Pick and Hele Tume
leaking memories # 3 MOZG / Bydgoszcz, Poland / 2011 / 26 min It is dark. I say: “Pewnego razu…” (once upon a time) and slowly lift up a switched on lamp, the higher it gets the brighter the space is lit. In the focus of the spotlight there is a yellow chalk circle on the floor. I draw sun beams onto it, pour petrol into the circle and set it aflame. I take a seat on a bench and with my fingers i slowly open a loaf of bread. Inside of it there are glass marbles that i drop on the floor. with chalk I draw a door and a handle on the wall and i try to open it. I turn on a hotplate and put a small pot with milk on it. I take a teddy bear and put it into a bowl with water. I take his arms and play and pretend
he is swimming. I draw fishes on the floor and with my hands i spill some water onto them while trying to catch the fishes. with a knife I open the stomach of the teddy bear. The milk overboils. I place the glass marbles into the stomach of the teddy bear and suture him. I take a key from the wall and try to open the door. I switch off all the lights and light up a candle. i hold the key to the flame of the candle. it gets hot and I drop it. the candle goes out. Darkness. And I say: “… I zyli dlugo I szczesliwe.” (And they all lived happily ever after). Photo: Monika Sobczak
leaking memories # 1 Interakcje International Art Festival / Piotrkow Trybunalski, Poland / 2011 / 17 min A videoprojection is showing parts of an old 8mm film. With white chalk I write the word PROLOG on the ground. I stand in front of the writing and inhale very strongly a couple of times. I take a seat on a brown, wooden chair and with string i bind a fish around my collar. there is package of milk attached to the seat from below in a way it cannot be seen by the audience. I open it and thump out the milk in the rhythm of my breathing (in- exhale). With my hands I am rubbing my eyes until they are all red. I slowly pick up a cake from the
floor and move it very slowly to my head. I cream the cake onto my head. I release the fish from my neck and kneel down on the floor. i take the fish and with both hands i rub it in circles on the floor. right where the fish left its marks I open my shirt and get very close to a burning candle. while the shirt is starting to burn I am taking it off. I put the smoking shirt on the chair. With white chalk I am writing the word EPILOG on the floor. i take a deep breath and slowly release the air from my lungs. Photo: Matthias Pick
Memorial for deceased performance and action artists Night Of Performance / BWA Bydgoszcz, Poland / 2011 / 45 min Long durational performance and ongoing project The status that performance art has reached today and the attention that this art form receives by now would have not been achieved without the intense work of all those who have worked in this art form for many many years and often dedicated their entire lives to it. Many of these artists are not living anymore.
The memorial for deceased performance- and action artists is a tribute to the works and the effort of those that allow us to manifest our positions today.
Visitors of the memorial are very welcome to bring flowers and
wreaths and light candles in remembrance. I ask NOT to show performances at the Memorial but to silently remember those who still move us and who have developed and characterized this wonderful form of art. 
description of action: I stand on a small socle and hold signs with names, birth and death dates of deceased performance- and actionartists for a couple of minutes in front of me. Photo: Monika Sobczak
i remembered... Norbert Klassen * 1941 - † 2011 Nel Amaro * 1946 - † 2011 Bas Jan Ader * 1942 - † 1975 Manfred Hammes * 1954 - † 2006 Emmett Wiliams * 1925 - † 2007 Allan Kaprow * 1927 - † 2006 Rose Hill * 1976 - † 2008 Wolf Vostell * 1932 - † 1998 Kurt Schwitters * 1887 - † 1948 Joseph Beuys * 1921 - † 1986 Christoph Maria Schlingensief * 1960 - † 2010 Augusto Boal * 1931 - † 2009 Dieter Roth * 1930 - † 1998 Robert Filliou * 1926 - † 1987 Yves Klein * 1928 - † 1962 George Maciunas * 1931 - † 1978 Simon Häfele * 1977 - † 2011 John Cage * 1912 - † 1992 Jochen Wüstenfeld * 1961 - † 1998 Ben d’Armagnac * 1940 - † 1978 Al Hansen * 1927 - † 1995
Terry Fox * 1943 - † 2008 James Lee Byars * 1932 - † 1997 Ana Mendieta * 1948 - † 1985 Rudolf Schwarzkogler * 1940 - † 1969 Paul Neagu * 1938 - † 2004 Gina Pane * 1939 - † 1990 André Philip Lemke * 1970 - † 2006 Antonin Artaud * 1896 - † 1948 Kjartan Slettemark * 1932 - † 2008 Nan Hoover * 1931 - † 2008 George Brecht * 1926 - † 2008 Bob Flanagan * 1952 - † 1996 X-Ray-Psy * 1966 - † 1999 Zorka Ságlová * 1942 - † 2003 Stuart Sherman * 1945 - † 2001 Bob Cobbing * 1920 - † 2001 Jan Piekarczyk * 1951 - † 2011 Marcos Kurtycz * 1934 - † 1996 Fritz Behr * 1949 - † 2006 Ian Hinchliffe * 1942 - † 2010 Miklós Erdély * 1928 - † 1986
It ain’t over until it’s over [what’s in my head #15] Men Only Performance Art Afternoon / Flutgraben e.V. / Berlin, Germany / 2010 / 15min
Dressed in bright trousers and a white shirt I am standing in front of the audience and whispering: ‘In the beginning was the word and the word was ... maybe’. I repeat the sentence just the word at the end is changing from ‘maybe’ to ‘perhaps’ to ‘yes’ to ‘sure’. With my fists I am beating two times strongly on my chest and screaming ‘SURE!’. I repeat this action several times. I put my feets into the earth, put cream on my left hand and fill petrol in the cream
hand and lit it up. While the fire is burning in my hand I scratch strongly with my right hand the left side of my chest. I put the burning hand infront of my chest and cream the fire onto my chest, so that the fire destinguishes. I whisper towards the audience the sentence: In the end there was the word and the word was... and throw noddle letters into the audience. Photo: Matthias Pick
i can’t i can’t
[what’s in my head #9]
Home Sweet Some Performance- and Video Art Festival / Berlin, Germany / 2010 / 13min
I enter the space dressed with a white shirt and bright pants. With chalk I write the word “Prolog” on the floor. I spell the word “Illusion” in German and slap myself strongly with the flat hand on my cheek after each letter. Music starts to play (“Alina” by Arvo Pärt). with chalk and in a childish way I draw the figure of a woman on the floor. I drip rose oil into a big pot of boiling water. With red nail varnish I paint the nails of my right foot. I lay down next to the chalk-woman and start to stroke
her, to lift her up and to hug her. I stand up and go to the big pot with the boiling water with the smell of roses. I undress and put my clothes into the pot. With my fingers I take them out again and put the hot clothes back on. The Music stops. With chalk I am writing the word “Epilog” on the floor. I spell the word “Truth” in English and beat my cheek after each letter, softly this time. I am leaving. Photo: Andrés Galeano
Lilly
[what’s in my head #8]
Las Bas Biennale / Kiasma - Museum for contemporary arts / Helsinki, Finland / 2010 / 30 min I use the structure of a collage combined with several aspects from film to create a single image made out of a variety of actions. The audience is sitting on chairs in a semi circle around the stage. Photo: Antti Ahonen
Ruhe International Performance Art Festival grenzART / Kirschau, Germany / 2010 / 65 min sitting in a calm forest i carve the word “ruhe” (silence) into a rock using a hammer and a chisel. Ruhe was performed as part of the PASproject “there is no grass under my skin” Photo: Heiko Blankenstein
speechless [version #2] Orange L’événement d’art actuel / St.Hyacinthe, Canada / 2009 / 4 hours
My entire body is completely covered with several kilograms of noodle-letters. without moving, just like a sculpture, I am sitting on a pile of bibles. One of them is in my hands at the chapter of St. John’s gospel that starts with the sentence “At the beginning was the word and the word was: God” After four hours I rub the noodle-letters off my body and i leave. Photo: BBB-Archiv
fressen und gefressen werden [what’s in my head #6] Eating the Universe Exhibition / Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, Germany / 2009 / 36 min
Similar to a collage I combine various small actions to one image: i attach cardboard pieces to the wall in the shape of a house; i create a semi-circle on the floor by moving and snorting flour from my mouth and over my hands; i spread red chili powder over my feet; with long plaster-stripes i tape my feet to the ground; i draw a white waistcoat on the brown shirt that i wear; on the left side of my chest with my hand i am pounding the the rhythm of my heart; i take off my brown shirt and reveal the white one that i wear underneath; from the cardboard i am cutting out a gun that i point at the audience and that after a while i start chewing on and eating it completely; i burn a couple of holes into
the white shirt; i arrange plates on this semi-circle and on each plate i pile up black soil; i stick several forks into each pile; i try to set them aflame; i run and smash into the wall at the spot where the cardboard house is at; i cover my head with white cream; i tear the letters E-G-O from cardboard; i open my shirt and with two forks i scratch a “sun” around my bellybutton; i spill black liquid from my mouth while smiling; i throw noodle-letters at the audience; i stick forks into a radish and attach a string to it; i blow petals into the audience; finally i leave the place taking the radish along Photo: Kunsthalle Düsseldorf and Katja Illner
Eating the universe. Food in art. [Curator: Magdalena Holzhey] Eat Art, a term invented by Daniel Spoerri for art made with and involving food, has its institutionalized origins in Düsseldorf. In 1970, Spoerri founded the Eat Art Gallery alongside the Burgplatz and inspired numerous artists to produce various editions made of edible materials and food wastes. Based on the former activities of the gallery, the exhibition in the Kunsthalle Düsseldorf takes generous stock of the phenomena from today’s perspective and traces the original character of eat art from its origins until today. “Eating the Uni-
verse” is a title first created in the 1970’s by Peter Kubelka, former professor for Film and Cooking at the Frankfurt Städelschule, for a TV-show on cooking as an artistic genre. It demonstrates the ongoing interest of artists even today in the subject of food as an elementary substance. As a fundamental interface of art and life, food remains a central topic, especially against the backdrop of issues such as affluence and hunger, the anti-consumerism and anti-globalization movements, modern dietetics and cooking shows, health crazes and fast food. ...
Don´t Hurt Me [#3] Chamalle X Performance Art Festival / Ponteverda, Spain / 2009 / 1 hour my head, my feet and my hands are all over covered with plaster stripes. i light up an umbrella and walk with it burning through the streets and public places of the city of ponteverda. Photo: Stefanie Trojan
illusion [what’s in my head #3] Perfo 09 International Performance Art Festival / Pori, Finland / 2009 / 18 min
i combine different small actions into a collage: with one finger i write the word “illusion” into the air; i slap myself after each letter; using soil i write the letters on the wall; i smash an onion to my head while stepping on the spot; i build up a table and a chair from cardboard; i attach flowers to the table; i try to place a candle on it; i put seven plates on the floor and i pile up black soil on each one of them; i pour gasoline on each pile and set them aflame; i
run towards the wall and several times without stopping i am smashing into it; i scratch the left side of my chest very roughly while grinning with black teeth because of the soil i took into my mouth; i cover my head with white cream; i dip my face into the soil; i start to tear off the blossoms from the flowers; i collect the petals in my hands and while leaving the space i blow them at the audience Photo: Jukka Kostet and Jan Virtanens
no rose without a thorn To Zr贸b Performance Art Festival / Zielona G贸ra, Poland / 2007 / 15 min
I am standing in front of the audience; i am looking into the eyes of each visitor; on the floor there are four white strings and one handkerchief; I pull off my clothes; i use the white strings to wrap my clothes around my head; with both hands I start to scratch my
skin very roughly until it turns completely red; I stop scratching and i take the white handkerchief to wipe all over my body; I form a flower out of this handkerchief and offer it to the audience until one person takes it Photo: BBB-Archiv
silence PrĂŠavis de dĂŠsordre urbain Performance Art Festival / Marseille, France / 2007 / 10 min at place de la Joliette, marseille, I am sitting on top of the 12 meter high monument, holding a cardboard sign with the word: Silence. After ten minutes the action is stopped by the police. Photo: Dariusz Fodczuk
geduld Citygallery / Munich, Germany / 2006 / 15 min i am standing in front of the audience and i look into the eyes of each visitor; i try to attach cardboard letters to the wall; They keep falling to the floor since i am not using any glue or tape to fix them; i keep trying and after a while it is recognizable that i want to write “GEDULD” (patience); i try my best to fix the letters using my hands and my feet but there is no chance that they would stay up; After a while and without having asked one person comes up to help, holding
the brown cardboard letters to the wall; with his help the word “GEDULD” is clearly readable; i shred the cardboard letters; i put the pieces into a bowl of water; i take the soaked pieces out again and i knead a “loaf of bread” out of it; i have a piece and while eating it i go to everyone in the room and offer a piece of the patience-bread Photo: Florian Freund
TAXI libre Mehr Licht! / La Habana, Cuba / 2005 / 2 x 3 hours I am dressed like a cuban worker in a green suit, black boots and with a typical straw hat; a chair is attached on my back; on both sides of the chair and on the straw hat signs are placed that inform about my action: “TAXI libre, Peso No más de 50 kg, Distancia No más de 200 m” (free TAXI, Weight not more than 50kg, Distance
not more than 200 m); I go through the streets of La Habana – San Augustin and offer my way of transportation; during two days I carry more than 22 children on my back through the streets, back to home or to friends around the corner. Photo: Lianet Desjardins
face to face Privat Impact Performance Art Festival / Szczecin, Poland / 2005 / 7 min
I am wearing two suits one upon the other; a bright one and underneath a darker one; I am standing in front of the audience and i look into the eyes of each visitor; I take off the white suit and put it on the floor; it looks like my shadow; i arrange the bright suit; I kneel down on it and put my knees on the upper arms of the jacket; With both hands and with full force I bash a big cobble-
stone on the spot where the head is supposed to be; After repeating this a couple of times I stand up and leave while strewing countless white flowers all over the floor that highlight my way out Photo: Andrzej Paweczyk
success Performance Tage / Kunstverein Gütersloh / Gütersloh, Germany / 2005 / 5 min I am standing on the word “success” that is placed on the floor and made out of crisp-bread; I wear a mask made out of a loaf of bread; I dance and hop over the bread and destroy it with my silly looking movements Photo: BBB-Archiv
“success” is part of the video edition “art_clips .ch .at.de.” published by Gerhard Johann Lischka and the ZKM in Karlsruhe, Hatje Cantz Verlag, 2006
geradeaus Public Venues / Berlin, Germany / 2003 / 4 hours I buy two loaves of bread in a bakery; In front of it I hollow them out, take off my shoes and put the loaves on instead; With my new bread-shoes I walk through the city; over the time my footwear crumbles away; i go to a bakery again, buy two new loaves of bread and repeat the action (Mythos: An der Stelle, wo sich heute der Titisee
befindet, lag einst eine reiche Stadt. Man sagt, die Bewohner lebten so sehr in Üppigkeit, dass sie Brotlaiber aushöhlten, die Krumen an Tiere verfütterten und die übrig gebliebenen Krustenmäntel als Schuhe benutzten. Ob dies der Grund für eine Strafe war, konnte nie geklärt werden. Fakt ist jedoch, die Stadt versank im Wasser.) Photo: Steffi Wurster
gezwungenermaĂ&#x;en Galerie Schafschetzy / Graz, Austria / 2003 / 60 min Dressed with black pants and a white shirt I sit on a chair in the shop window of the gallery; At my feet I carry two loaves of bread; 20 screw clamps are stuck to different parts of my body; they are attaching several dollar notes, the Bible and the Koran; like a sculpture and without moving i sit for a while Photo: Lucia Dellefant
Augenzeuge S端lzer Salon Performance Tage / Cologne, Germany / 2001 / 12 min
With chimes in my hand I enter the gallery space; while entering I play the scale up and down starting from C; I stop walking and end the scale with a D; i put the chimes on the ground; out of a plastic bag I take a fish and place it right onto them; With a big knife I cut off the edge of a loaf of bread and put it on two doll legs; I hollow out another two loaves and wear them as shoes; I make a toy-airplane fly through the gallery and land it on a piece of bacon; I strew american confetti over the set; with string I attach a book on my head; i break 31 pencils over
my knee; I take off the book off and hectically i throw 20 tablets of Aspirin into one glass of water; With foil I bind two packages of butter around my knees; i burn a german flag; i rub the ashes from it onto my forehead; i bite lengthwise into a banana; i fall on my knees; with my hands i strongly rub my eyes until they are all red; I take the fish off the chimes and place it into a water-wing; I strike the C on the chimes and leave Photo: Pietro Pellini
Wille [will] 1. Pakt typus Performance Event / Zionskirche / Berlin, Germany / 2001 / 28 min I am standing above the audience; i hold up a 2,40 x 3,60 m white flag with a black “I” on it; I am holding the flag for as long as possible and until i am reaching the limit of my strengths; the flag falls out of my hands and drops on the floor; I am leaving the elevated spot
like innocence, in the centre appears a black beam, revealing itself as a huge “I” within a few minutes. The Berliner holds the unrolled flag fast in his hands. But soon the strain is visible in his face. The performance-artist is determined to hold up his “I” as long as he possibly can. He is breathing heavily and sweats, in the end his The young man wears a dark suit and a tie when whole body seems clenched. The cramp lasts mounting the pulpit of the Zion-church with a twenty minutes, then the 32-year old collapses, three metre long arm-thick wooden stick. With- the flag glides from his hands and falls to the out saying a single word BBB Johannes Deim- floor. (FAZ, by Andreas Hergeth, 2001) ling slowly unrolls an oversized flag. It is white
2. Estonian art academy / Tallinn, Estonia / 2004 / 32 min 3. Apart Performance Festival / Katowice, Poland / 2005 / 26 min Some attempt an effort of will and climb Mount Everest. Others dedicate themselves to extreme sports like bungee jumping. Berlin artist BBB Johannes Deimling holds a white flag with the inscription “I” in his hands until his arms become heavier and heavier and finally his strenght fails him: the bar slides off his hands and falls to the
floor. The performance is called “Will” and has the character of an “acted image”. Until reaching the total exhaustion of the artist, the performance normally only lasts 20 minutes. (kunstforum Bd. 162, 2002) Photo: Villu Plink, Roland P. Runge and Wladyslaw Kazmierczak
blanc #5
[Haifa–once upon a time]
Rencontres Internationale Paris-Berlin / Podewil / Berlin, Germany / 2001 / 75 min Situation: bomb explosion in haifa, israel - two men were killed screams of speechlessness Inspired by small fillers from the daily newspapers in which a few short sentences describe dramatic and horrible scenarios, BBB Johannes Deimling has worked out a cycle of acted images: “BLANC”; Since 2000 he realizes different images based on the similar moment of speechlessness; BLANC is a cycle of acted images (= images created with the medium of Performance art) that focus the
moments right after an accident, a crash, a personal drama at home or a terrorist attack; These moments of no return, in which one is incapable to act or to react, when one is speechless and helpless extradited to be frozen or paused for a little while; Time stands still, the scene appears Silent and peaceful; Flour covers people and objects, like snow or dust; The Flour connects to the ordinariness; the white situation turns out the horror, the silence, the faint and the speechlessness; In this moment of silence it seems that one can hear a scream without any voice. Photo: BBB-Archiv