15/10/2023 – 12/11/2023,

Marie Heleen Samrotzki: How Do You Want to Feel Today?

, Stadthausgalerie Münster

The wall gives hold. It doesn‘t move. [...] It divides.
It encloses. [...]
It protects and endangers.
It guides and restricts.
It hurts.

(Excerpt from the self-published zine It Remains Unchanged).

In the live performance The Wall, One Instance, three people push against a wall – with all their energy for one hour. The visibly exhausting Sisyphean task of the performers demands not only their strength and endurance, but also that of the audience. The image of absurdity is mixed with the tension of the situation: The performers seem to be forced to continue pushing while the viewers seem to be joining in by watching with a sense of compulsion. Based on this work, Samrotzki develops a new installation and performance for the Stadthausgalerie. Moving bodies, text and sound are mixed to an ensompassing installation. The focus lies on the effects of power relations on movement and interaction. Here, Samrotzki processes current experiences of surveillance and control of public and private spaces, as well as the perception of new spatial and psychological boundaries during the pandemic.

Marie Heleen Samrotzki lives and works between performance, music, sound, text and criticism. Her work focuses on "borders": physical, mental, social, political or spatial borders. In 2022, she received the Absolvent*innen Residenz Förderung of Bündnis internationaler Produktionshäuser at PACT Zollverein and the Reisestipendium of Kunstakademie Münster. Her works have been shown at Gazometer Münster, Cité Internationale des Arts Paris and in Caen, France, among others. She is currently supported by the Volksbank Münsterland Nord with a production scholarship.