Intervention in the City (2021)
Happening
42’00
Public Space

Inspired by The Society of the Spectacle by Guy Debord and the Situationist practice of derive (drifting), this video documents students from the Music and Movement study programme at the University of the Arts Berlin improvising for 40 minutes outside the UDK concert hall, located at the intersection of Hardenbergstrasse and Fasanenstrasse.

In this performance, we situate our bodies within urban spaces, where the shifting dynamics of sensory perception redefine our actions. These actions unfold in a constant interplay of disintegration and reconstruction, as we respond to the ever-changing geographical and social environment. Through this embodied engagement, we attempt to reclaim agency from the incessant accumulation of information and emotions that saturate everyday life, as Debord suggests in his critique of modern spectacle.

Drawing from the practice of derive, we experiment with spontaneous movement and behavior in unfamiliar environments, seeking to disrupt the habitual patterns imposed by the city. By determining our own actions, we rebuild order and relationships, challenging the passive consumption of spectacle that dominates contemporary urban life.

A central question arises: can we transcend the environment, or are we still, as Debord argues, dominated by it? Are we able to assert ourselves as active agents within the city, or are we merely subjects shaped by the forces of spectacle? In this context, we ask ourselves: Am I the initiator of watching, or am I simply being watched?

Concept: Xueqing Yu
Happening: Karolina Runge, Felicia Geber, Anna Wielend, Johannes L. Heidelk, Vincent Brock, Daiyan Kindelán, Mariella Castelo, Xueqing Yu
Video recording: Jiaao Yu, Qing Lu, Dan Hu
Video editing: Xueqing Yu