Jochen Gerz
«Snake Hoods & Dragons' Dreams»

In this 8th instalment of the 'Griechische Stücke' ('Greek Pieces'), which was executed in Mike Steiner's Studiogalerie, Berlin, Jochen Gerz picks up the threads of 'Marsyas' by again taking to the point of exhaustion the physical process of body painting. The antagonism between snake – according to Gerz, the symbol of the 'amoral, opinionless, flexible' – and dragon as a snake equipped with the weapon of fire – according to Gerz, the symbol of the law and a petrified system of order – is neutralized in the course of the performance. Gerz embodies the dragon and shaves bald one strip of his head while watching pictures of a winter landscape on a monitor. He scrapes off his shaved hair on a snakeskin hanging on the wall. Then he coats the shaved stripe – his body axis – with dark-coloured paint and with his head draws a line on the floor. During the performance, the monitor remains both counterpole and centre of attraction for the artistic process, which ends when the performer is worn-out.