On 14 June 2014, a street festival took place on Lothringerstraße in Aachen, Germany. katharinajej puts up a hammock in between a traffic light and a road sign at the end of the street. People are passing, cars rushing. In front of the hammock a sign reads: "Join me for a moment of heaven." katharinajej lies down in the hammock waiting for her guests.
A man lies down with me. About 40 years old. Red checked shirt, jeans, white beret. The beret falls off the moment he lays his head down in the hammock. He smells of alcohol. Suddenly we are very close. Our bodies nestle against each other. The hammock doesn't allow anything else. He tells me about his roof terrace, where he invites friends and tells them: There is no music and nothing to eat here. Just come and look at the sky with me. Soon he will fly for the first time. Actually he finds the idea of being in a tube in the sky and leaving contrails behind him weird. He is happy to see the clouds overhead and not azure blue, because he finds clouds much more beautiful and varied. His friend appears in front of the hammock and gives him the reason to say goodbye. He wants to kiss me, but I give him my hand so that he can kiss my hand.
A woman lies down with me. Blue eyes and a white embroidered blouse. Middle-aged. Her friend has gone to the savings bank to withdraw money. Instantly she is in my arms. She tells me that she lives in a suburb of Aachen and dreams of hanging a hammock in her garden. But she doesn't have the trees for it. So she enjoys it all the more now. Then we both become quiet. She no longer knows what to say. Neither do I. When her friend comes back from withdrawing money, she crawls out of the hammock.
A man in his mid-forties with glasses stands next to my hammock. He stays there and says he would lie down with me, but he's not in the mood right now. Then he asks if he can lie down with me and his dog. I agree. His dog is a Mexican naked greyhound. Because of him we shouldn't swing too hard. In the old days, this breed of dog used to show people the way after death. His dog sleeps in his bed. Now he has to go shopping. He will buy a beer for himself and some food for the dog. He cooks something for the dog from meat, carrots and onions.
On 8 September 2017, as part of the City Leaks Festivals Interacting Day, katharinajej puts up a hammock in between a pillar of Hansaring station in Cologne and the pole of a streetlight. People are passing, cars are rushing by. The sky is grey, the ground rain-drenched. In front of the hammock a sign reads: "Join me for a moment of rest." katharinajej lies down in the hammock waiting for her guests.
After a while alone in the hammock, a young woman, just over 20, with dyed red hair tied in a pigtail, comes straight up to me. She says she has just missed her bus and now feels like lying down with me. As she lies next to me, she tells me that she is rarely in the hammock. Her flat has no balcony. The opportunity to go outside eludes her. It is cold, but her body warms mine because we lie so close together. We hang under the roof of the station. Protected from the rain. She is waiting for good weather for her parachute jump. It's been postponed. I admire her courage. She wants to do something outstanding in her life again. Then she remembers the bus. She wants to see if it is coming soon and says goodbye.
A middle-aged man with a grey cap and a black leather jacket lies down next to me. He looks at the white slats above us and notices that some are missing. He imagines how many young pigeons have already been born there. He has just come from a rehearsal in which he clownishly tried to unfold a deck chair, rehearsing his own inability. As he talks, I feel the vibration of his voice in his chest. At the same time, he nudges the hammock very lightly with his foot so that we sway gently back and forth. We become calm. The pleasant swaying reminds him of a bondage workshop where he was tied to a tree. A second man in a purple jumper joins us in the hammock. It also holds the three of us. I am warmed from two sides.
Pictures by rwinter
On 9 August 2023, katharinajej is lying in a hammock in the middle of the pedestrian zone next to the cathedral in Braunschweig. There is a sign in front of the hammock: "Join me for a moment of idleness". The sun is shining, hiding behind a few clouds, coming out again. The wind blows gently. katharinajej waits for her guests.
An older man with a green polo shirt and a leather bag approaches me. When I invite him in, he lies down in the hammock with me as a matter of course. Our heads rest on the ends of the hammock. My feet and lower legs lie under his legs. He tells me about the four months he resolved to do nothing once his pension began. No one believed him that he could. He would fall into a hole or not be able to take it, those around him said. Before his pension, he worked a lot all his life. 50 hours a week. He was on the board of directors. He only took twice two-week holidays a year. But he could very well do nothing for the four months. He rested in the garden or went for coffee in the afternoon. He didn't even touch a book....
An older woman with long grey-brown hair and a blue dress comes straight towards me. Yes, she would like to lie down with me. I am happy for her visit. She doesn't need that at all, the doing nothing. She loves to be busy. Although she is already retired, she teaches mathematics and French and she goes dancing: square dancing, line dancing and tap dancing. The school holidays are terrible for her when her students are away and the dance classes are on break. Then she knits at home or keeps herself in other ways occupied. She is fine with it. Others think she would be stressed or depressed, but she loves being active. She finds doing nothing rather antisocial. Because then you don't contribute anything to the lives of others. She wants to give something to others.
A tall older man with beige trousers, a grey jacket and a half bald head lies down in the hammock with me. He loves doing nothing. He could practise this all day. But his pension is too small for him and his wife, so he keeps working. When he is doing nothing, he looks at the sky. He watches the birds. Like we are right now. We see crows turning in the wind. He thinks the crows just do that for fun. He has also observed the same with ravens. The wind is getting stronger. He points to the leaves of the tree. He likes the way the wind rustles through the leaves. Then the bells of the cathedral begin to chime. The ringing takes us completely. We become silent and listen. I only notice the breathing movements of his belly, which lies close to mine. I close my eyes. I feel my uncertainty. How do we go on now? Is it enough if I just lie there next to him without doing or saying anything?
The written documentation of the performance is exhibited from 25 to 27 August 2023 at the "Festival in the Open Air" on the theme "New Work/Good Work/Anti-Work - Great Opportunity or Great Denial?". The venue is the outdoor area of the Kunstverein DIE H_LLE at Hauptgüterbahnhof 22A in 38126 Braunschweig.
The pictures are by Lucie Mercadal.