Performance, 2019

35 minute performance incorporating an improvised vocal soundtrack.
I first created a white painting surface by rolling out paper on the stage.
I then changed into an all white outfit and donned a light blonde wig.
With a brush and black paint I sketched a large circle, I then began
painting the circle with my wig. Once the circle was complete I spoke
the words “no dignity in death” into a microphone connected to a delay
pedal. I stood in the center looking out into the audience as my words
slowly faded out over 3 minutes.


No Dignity in Death

Public performance executed at Washingtonplatz, a large square directly south of Hauptbahnhof the main train station in Berlin. The station is both an architectural marvel and a labyrinthine eye-sore, located close to the German federal bureaucracy and one can argue the center of EU power. This station connects Berlin to the rest of Europe, and like the government buildings in the vicinity also projects German power to the rest of the continent.

For approximately one hour I activated the periphery of the square, slowly walking on the curb right next to the street. Through a microphone attached to a portable suitcase amplifier I repeated the mantra “I will not kill, Ich werde nicht töten”. These words were an incantation or maybe a hypnotic suggestion to those in power, from the highest echelons down to the humble cop on the street. The mantra also resonated with me personally, informing the choices I can make as someone living in such a rich country.

Performed in the frame of Performance Crossings festival, organized by Cross Attic and the Association for Performance Art in Berlin.

Photo by Miroslav Fokt

I Will Not Kill

23 minute sound performance that began with holotropic breathing, the rapid circular intake of air. I used the energizing effects of this type of breathwork to help me explore the space with my body and voice.

Performed at Hošek Contemporary in the frame of the TENSION festival.

Asphyxiating Grip of Anxiety

Performance, 2018

A 20 minute performance during which I was questioned and tortured by
a video interrogator. I walked on stage and put a black bag on my head,
my hands were bound and I was helped to my seat by an audience
member. As I sat down the video started playing and asking questions,
at random intervals torture music played and I submerged my head
underwater, then the questions began again. The performance ended
when I was rejected by my torturer and told to leave. A song from the
children’s television show ‘Barney and Friends’ started playing, still bound
and hooded I left the stage.

All the music played was used in real interrogations: Barney and Friends,
Slayer, Throbbing Gristle, and Diamanda Galás, or is of a similar sonic
sensibility such as Brighter Death Now and Prurient.


Ticking Bomb

Performance, 2019

35 minute performance incorporating an improvised vocal soundtrack.
I first created a white painting surface by rolling out paper on the stage.
I then changed into an all white outfit and donned a light blonde wig.
With a brush and black paint I sketched a large circle, I then began
painting the circle with my wig. Once the circle was complete I spoke
the words “no dignity in death” into a microphone connected to a delay
pedal. I stood in the center looking out into the audience as my words
slowly faded out over 3 minutes.

Sound performance, 2016

A twenty minute explosion and expansion of noise: distorted beats,
profanities, screams, pseudo religious utters. Truth through sound.

House of the Lord

Public performance, 2019

For three hours I handed out “luck” to the public in the area of Rathaus
Neukölln, Berlin. I approached people and asked them if they wanted to
be lucky, or to have good luck. If they said yes I took a small golden whip
out of a gold bag and whipped myself. Once I’ve punished myself
“enough” I took a glass stone out of my bag and imbued it with luck by
blowing on it and handed it to the person. The performance ended once
I gave away 70 pieces of luck.


Lucky

Instagram performance, 2020

The project started with a simple plan: take a self-portrait with
my phone every day in May. The images were augmented with a
body-editing app, accentuating and exaggerating certain
physical traits, and posted to Instagram the same day. I did not
plan what the next day’s image would look like; I continued this
protocol for the duration of the month, using props and clothes
that I had in the studio or had borrowed.

The images were presented on social media partially as a
comment on the daily grind of content creation during the
pandemic lockdown, but also as a personal exploration of the
value of selfies. Each image is a reflection of some part of my
identity

Beautify

Instagram performance, 2020

The project started with a simple plan: take a self-portrait with
my phone every day in May. The images were augmented with a
body-editing app, accentuating and exaggerating certain
physical traits, and posted to Instagram the same day. I did not
plan what the next day’s image would look like; I continued this
protocol for the duration of the month, using props and clothes
that I had in the studio or had borrowed.

The images were presented on social media partially as a
comment on the daily grind of content creation during the
pandemic lockdown, but also as a personal exploration of the
value of selfies. Each image is a reflection of some part of my
identity.


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Aleks Slota