Transnational identities and layers of complexity – body, space, materials
by Inger-Reidun Olsen / 2021
I am sharing my perspective and memories of experiencing Franzisca Siegrist’s performance series ‘Route of Roots’. My artistic background comes from dance, choreography and performance art.
The first time I saw Franzisca’s work live was in 2012. I remember thinking that she was being mindful about her presence in her own body, which I think is rare in performance art. Her artistic language was articulated, meaning that there was a sense of clear artistic choices in how she was relating to the space she performed in, the materials that she used and her body. A poetic, visual and kinaesthetic work holding and unfolding complexity.
Since then, I have experienced many more performances by Franzisca, including four of the eighteen performances from the series 'Route of Roots', which she did between 2016-2019. Those performances are ‘Route of Circles’ at Abierto de Acción, Centro Párraga, Murcia, ES (2016), and ‘Route of Roots' at CELLARCUBE, Asker, NO (2017), at Østlandsutstillingen 2017, Østfold Kunstsenter, Fredrikstad, NO (2017), and at Acontencimento, Zaragoza, ES (2018). Witnessing those performances, I have seen the development and different stages of this project and have experienced how Franzisca has been exploring different materials and combining them and the ways she has been developing movements, performance strategies and images relating to the topic ‘Route of Roots’.
by Inger-Reidun Olsen / 2021
I am sharing my perspective and memories of experiencing Franzisca Siegrist’s performance series ‘Route of Roots’. My artistic background comes from dance, choreography and performance art.
The first time I saw Franzisca’s work live was in 2012. I remember thinking that she was being mindful about her presence in her own body, which I think is rare in performance art. Her artistic language was articulated, meaning that there was a sense of clear artistic choices in how she was relating to the space she performed in, the materials that she used and her body. A poetic, visual and kinaesthetic work holding and unfolding complexity.
Since then, I have experienced many more performances by Franzisca, including four of the eighteen performances from the series 'Route of Roots', which she did between 2016-2019. Those performances are ‘Route of Circles’ at Abierto de Acción, Centro Párraga, Murcia, ES (2016), and ‘Route of Roots' at CELLARCUBE, Asker, NO (2017), at Østlandsutstillingen 2017, Østfold Kunstsenter, Fredrikstad, NO (2017), and at Acontencimento, Zaragoza, ES (2018). Witnessing those performances, I have seen the development and different stages of this project and have experienced how Franzisca has been exploring different materials and combining them and the ways she has been developing movements, performance strategies and images relating to the topic ‘Route of Roots’.
'Route of Roots', CELLARCUBE, Asker. Photo: André Wulf / Dreiemoment AS
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‘Route of Circles’, Abierto de Acción, Murcia. Photo: Lydia Olivares
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In all the performances she moves her body from one place to another. In the first performance that I saw, ‘Route of Circles’, she was drawing circles with charcoal and creating her own path in the space while performing. In the second performance, ‘Route of Roots' (CELLARCUBE 2017) she created an installation with five wooden boxes of different sizes. The plant was installed in the space, and she started the performance by separating the plant from the soil so that the roots were exposed to the open air throughout the performance. This time she created a path by drawing circles made of charcoal between those different boxes as she moved forward from one box to the other. Exploring each box, one by one, with her body. And with her on this performance journey she carried a glass with soil and a ginger root. In the third performance ‘Route of Roots' (Østlandsutstillingen 2017) she made an installation of squares made of black tape, a landscape already created when she entered the performance space. While performing, she used the squares as steppingstones and ‘places’ to fit into and as storage for a plant that she carried with her during her performance journey. In the fourth and last performance of ‘Route of Roots' that I saw (Acontencimento 2018), she started the performance in an empty space. She carried small wooden boxes of different sizes into the space. This time she explored the boxes with her body, one by one, and simultaneously with different body parts in different boxes. She placed the boxes in a circular shape and drew, by using black tape, a square in the middle, and then she drew lines from this square to each box, in this way they all became connected. This time she also was performing together with a plant.
'Route of Roots', Østlandsutstillingen 2017. Photo: André Wulf / Dreiemoment AS
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‘Route of Roots', Acontencimento, Zaragoza. Photo: Susanne Fjørtoft
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My interpretations of the ‘Route of Roots’ performance series is that it is dealing with personal and cultural identities and the complexity within that. I think it explores the relationship with land/territories, ideas of belonging and attempts to fit in. Philosophically it’s almost like a life journey, ongoing without conclusion, just an attempt to try things out and explore while facing political and social structures and ideas created by others.
From knowing Franzisca’s background, I imagine that the work and topic ‘Route of Roots’ grows from an auto-biographical source. However, it’s important to emphasize that I don’t experience the performances as auto biographical since she manages to truly create a language that is transforming her personal experiences into visual and geometrical shapes, materials and physical movements that are open for the spectator to interpret in their own way, and through their own imagination.
While writing this text I felt an urge to learn more about Franzisca’s choice of materials, her relationship to them, and her process of working with those materials. I wondered how she made choices to add materials during this performance series and how she decided to change their ‘role’ in the different performances. I also wondered how she relates to her own body as a material [for performance]. Therefore, I asked her some of these questions.
From knowing Franzisca’s background, I imagine that the work and topic ‘Route of Roots’ grows from an auto-biographical source. However, it’s important to emphasize that I don’t experience the performances as auto biographical since she manages to truly create a language that is transforming her personal experiences into visual and geometrical shapes, materials and physical movements that are open for the spectator to interpret in their own way, and through their own imagination.
While writing this text I felt an urge to learn more about Franzisca’s choice of materials, her relationship to them, and her process of working with those materials. I wondered how she made choices to add materials during this performance series and how she decided to change their ‘role’ in the different performances. I also wondered how she relates to her own body as a material [for performance]. Therefore, I asked her some of these questions.
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How do you choose materials?
I chose materials by intuition; they sort of ‘come’ or appear to me. When I started with this project, I was looking back at one of the first performances that I ever did, and I wanted to do a similar action, but wanted to choose materials that could improve the performance and add to the new concept I wanted to develop. Back then I used travel bags and tried to fit into those. Using travel bags gives the audience a reference to traveling, which I think restricts a broader reading of the work. So, therefore, I wanted to create wooden boxes as they open up the work to more complexity. Another aspect was that I wanted to work on a long-term project where the process of my body in relationship to the materials would be brought into focus.
Some of the materials and objects in your performances have a symbolic value I would say, can you say something about the relationship to the plant, the soil and the ginger root?
When I choose materials, I try to have a very open approach. At the same time, I was looking for materials that could emphasize the concept of roots and I explored using a plant and later on also the ginger root. In most performances of ‘Route of Roots’ I would ‘transport’ a plant from one side of the room to another. I also had a piece of ginger root in my mouth during the whole performance on several occasions, for instance, during the one I did in CELLARCUBE. Then at the end I would spit it out. I think this is a very symbolic action that can be read in different ways.
In one of the performances I did in Spain, I had an orange peel in my mouth during the whole performance instead. I choose that intuitively by colour, but looking back now and reflecting on it, the orange is a very Spanish fruit, which in this case can adds a symbolic layer to that performance.
I have been using soil in performances before, but in ‘Route of Roots’ it often appears directly from the pot of the plant, by taking the plant out of the pot, dividing the plant in two, or three, or even by leaving ‘soil traces’ as I move the plant.
I chose materials by intuition; they sort of ‘come’ or appear to me. When I started with this project, I was looking back at one of the first performances that I ever did, and I wanted to do a similar action, but wanted to choose materials that could improve the performance and add to the new concept I wanted to develop. Back then I used travel bags and tried to fit into those. Using travel bags gives the audience a reference to traveling, which I think restricts a broader reading of the work. So, therefore, I wanted to create wooden boxes as they open up the work to more complexity. Another aspect was that I wanted to work on a long-term project where the process of my body in relationship to the materials would be brought into focus.
Some of the materials and objects in your performances have a symbolic value I would say, can you say something about the relationship to the plant, the soil and the ginger root?
When I choose materials, I try to have a very open approach. At the same time, I was looking for materials that could emphasize the concept of roots and I explored using a plant and later on also the ginger root. In most performances of ‘Route of Roots’ I would ‘transport’ a plant from one side of the room to another. I also had a piece of ginger root in my mouth during the whole performance on several occasions, for instance, during the one I did in CELLARCUBE. Then at the end I would spit it out. I think this is a very symbolic action that can be read in different ways.
In one of the performances I did in Spain, I had an orange peel in my mouth during the whole performance instead. I choose that intuitively by colour, but looking back now and reflecting on it, the orange is a very Spanish fruit, which in this case can adds a symbolic layer to that performance.
I have been using soil in performances before, but in ‘Route of Roots’ it often appears directly from the pot of the plant, by taking the plant out of the pot, dividing the plant in two, or three, or even by leaving ‘soil traces’ as I move the plant.
'Route of Roots', CELLARCUBE, Asker. Photo: André Wulf / Dreiemoment AS
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‘Route of Roots', Acontencimento, Zaragoza. Photo: Susanne Fjørtoft
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Before using the wooden boxes, you made squares from black tape and before that, circles with charcoal? Can you say something about your choices of shapes and what circles and squares in this context represent to you?
I already had the idea of the boxes in my mind when I started with ‘Route of Roots’. And somehow all these geometrical forms came to me at the same time. The square is a two-dimensional box, the circle though is a more organic form, it is softer. So, suddenly I had a ‘whole world’ to explore.
The circles and squares I made were also a very useful practical tool to transport myself further into the space and use the space in another way – on a visual and aesthetical level. In the performance, I try to fit into these different shapes. Some of the boxes are too small for me to fit into, but I try to fit anyway. To me this symbolizes ideas and rules made by others. I am questioning if my body needs to adapt to those boxes to fit in? I try to fit in, but it does not really work. This is of course only one aspect, as the performances are structured with many conceptual layers.
Can you say something about your process working with charcoal?
Before I made the wooden boxes, I explored with drawing circles in the space. I wanted something that could be easily erased after the performance and I wanted the colour to be black, so choosing charcoal was a practical, environmental and aesthetic choice.
I wonder if you can say something about your relationship to your body and body movements/actions in your work? And how do you produce these actions and movements?
I have always been very interested in working with my own body. I feel that I can express myself and say something through my body and movements that I cannot with words. I often put my body in difficult positions and bring it to a level of discomfort, tension and limit, however, never in a way that is too uncomfortable to watch. And never in a harmful way, I am mindful with myself. When I think of a new work, I see both the objects and how they move. So, the ‘moving’ of the elements is already present in my thoughts. And most of the time the objects need to be activated by the body. But I also get ideas for still images, almost photographic visuals, that I incorporate in my performances, and I need to create actions between those images. So, these actions are almost like ‘binding’ actions between images. I do not rehearse, so how these movements are created is often spontaneous and natural. I move how I move; I do not try to put myself in a character but let those movements come naturally.
I already had the idea of the boxes in my mind when I started with ‘Route of Roots’. And somehow all these geometrical forms came to me at the same time. The square is a two-dimensional box, the circle though is a more organic form, it is softer. So, suddenly I had a ‘whole world’ to explore.
The circles and squares I made were also a very useful practical tool to transport myself further into the space and use the space in another way – on a visual and aesthetical level. In the performance, I try to fit into these different shapes. Some of the boxes are too small for me to fit into, but I try to fit anyway. To me this symbolizes ideas and rules made by others. I am questioning if my body needs to adapt to those boxes to fit in? I try to fit in, but it does not really work. This is of course only one aspect, as the performances are structured with many conceptual layers.
Can you say something about your process working with charcoal?
Before I made the wooden boxes, I explored with drawing circles in the space. I wanted something that could be easily erased after the performance and I wanted the colour to be black, so choosing charcoal was a practical, environmental and aesthetic choice.
I wonder if you can say something about your relationship to your body and body movements/actions in your work? And how do you produce these actions and movements?
I have always been very interested in working with my own body. I feel that I can express myself and say something through my body and movements that I cannot with words. I often put my body in difficult positions and bring it to a level of discomfort, tension and limit, however, never in a way that is too uncomfortable to watch. And never in a harmful way, I am mindful with myself. When I think of a new work, I see both the objects and how they move. So, the ‘moving’ of the elements is already present in my thoughts. And most of the time the objects need to be activated by the body. But I also get ideas for still images, almost photographic visuals, that I incorporate in my performances, and I need to create actions between those images. So, these actions are almost like ‘binding’ actions between images. I do not rehearse, so how these movements are created is often spontaneous and natural. I move how I move; I do not try to put myself in a character but let those movements come naturally.
'Route of Roots', CELLARCUBE, Asker. Photo: André Wulf / Dreiemoment AS
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'Route of Roots', CELLARCUBE, Asker. Photo: André Wulf / Dreiemoment AS
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What about the relationship between your body, movements/actions and the other materials in your work, do you relate to them differently? For example, is there a hierarchy between them or are they equally important in your artistic process and language? How would you say the relationship to them and between them are affecting your artistic process and artistic choices?
I see my body as a tool, and as another element in my works. I guess I treat the body, the movements and the materials, as equal elements that can be used in a performance. Sometimes the body gets more attention, mostly when I perhaps use it alone to create an intense image. In other parts of the performance, the objects are highlighted. But often there is also a merging of body and material, and they become together one new image. I think this is one of the most important aspects of my artistic process and language. The choices are made intuitively and, as a whole, the body, the materials, the space, all together they create the performance.
Another aspect I am curious about is if this work has changed you in some way, and if so, in which way?
I believe that each work changes me somehow. Just as every experience in life changes us. And if not changed me, at least helped me grow richer, or expanded me in a way. We are who we are because of what we experience, and performance is a very big part of my life, it definitely affects me. Sometimes even just with the body awareness of ending up with muscle aches after a performance, or some pain here and there that I didn’t know I could have! I often show my work in festivals or as part of a larger show/context, so also all the people involved, the meetings, and discussions make me grow as a person.
Do your perspective and ideas about what you made change when sharing it with the audience?
This is difficult to say. Each performance, each place, space and audience affect me differently, but my experience is that I become one with the artwork while performing and I don’t think so much, everything is quite fluid – in flux. Sometimes it happens that I do an action that I did not plan to do because it feels right in the moment, or because an object / material reacts differently in the moment, then I expected. After a performance, I need some time to think and reconsider. I need to see the photos and / or videos to see how it worked from outside. As I don’t rehearse, this kind of a ‘debrief’ helps me gain experience for the next performance and insight into how the audience might read it.
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I see my body as a tool, and as another element in my works. I guess I treat the body, the movements and the materials, as equal elements that can be used in a performance. Sometimes the body gets more attention, mostly when I perhaps use it alone to create an intense image. In other parts of the performance, the objects are highlighted. But often there is also a merging of body and material, and they become together one new image. I think this is one of the most important aspects of my artistic process and language. The choices are made intuitively and, as a whole, the body, the materials, the space, all together they create the performance.
Another aspect I am curious about is if this work has changed you in some way, and if so, in which way?
I believe that each work changes me somehow. Just as every experience in life changes us. And if not changed me, at least helped me grow richer, or expanded me in a way. We are who we are because of what we experience, and performance is a very big part of my life, it definitely affects me. Sometimes even just with the body awareness of ending up with muscle aches after a performance, or some pain here and there that I didn’t know I could have! I often show my work in festivals or as part of a larger show/context, so also all the people involved, the meetings, and discussions make me grow as a person.
Do your perspective and ideas about what you made change when sharing it with the audience?
This is difficult to say. Each performance, each place, space and audience affect me differently, but my experience is that I become one with the artwork while performing and I don’t think so much, everything is quite fluid – in flux. Sometimes it happens that I do an action that I did not plan to do because it feels right in the moment, or because an object / material reacts differently in the moment, then I expected. After a performance, I need some time to think and reconsider. I need to see the photos and / or videos to see how it worked from outside. As I don’t rehearse, this kind of a ‘debrief’ helps me gain experience for the next performance and insight into how the audience might read it.
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<< Back