Virginia Was Not Fun At All, 2023, premiere of a live performance in a public space, duration 25 min, "Coexisting: Beyond Frames and Borders / Switzerland and North Macedonia," in the frame of the 14. Performance Reihe Neu-Oerlikon, Zürich, curated by Maricruz Penaloza and Biljana Tanurovska-Kjulavkovski. Photo: Markus Goessi.
"She wears a pink robe, loosely draped over her body, and has four large sacks. She fills them all with stones. She looks like a priestess who knows we will follow her. Her hair is wild and supports her determination. She holds a thick, handwritten book. 'Like Moses on Mount Sinai,' I think. We follow the woman in long strides from here to there. Then to the soccer field! Symbols are laid out with the stones. She sits, stands, and dances in them. 'Internal voice cannot be avoided,' I hear through the howling soccer players." (Lilian Frei, documenting the performance
in situ)
The performance unfolds in three parts. The audience is invited to follow a gradual movement through space: from the green area of the park, to an in-between zone marked by asphalt and concrete, and then back to nature again.
Existing structures and signs become integral to the performance. A school bicycle parking structure serves as an amplifier for my voice, and a street light is used as a tree, while geometric forms already present in the area—triangles and circles—are activated as spatial and conceptual references. These positions, like the exact sites themselves, are determined in situ, in relation to the environment and weather conditions.
I begin the performance by filling my pockets with stones and gradually moving toward the built structure, where I construct a square stone frame, marking a rational entry point into the work—a gesture that reflects on the formation of voice within the body.
Through performative reading, I share a methodology of working with text based on editing and assembling, creating a “unique” script from scattered materials.
The project draws on the idea that writers walk through nature to ease their minds, and that reading allows us to move beyond the limits of our bodies, time, and space. Reading becomes both a form of transport and a site of reflection, sometimes even lament. It opens questions around the (im)possibility of sharing, and the tension between inner experience and collective presence.
Echoing Virginia Woolf’s reflections on social gatherings, the performance considers how being among others can heighten one’s sense of separateness, even while sharing a common space. Feelings remain elusive—too vague, perhaps too spiritual—yet persist, like a stone lodged in a pocket, drawing us into deeper, more obscure layers of experience.