Lake Studios Berlin

I arrived in the Lake Studios in April to create a space for myself. It was not a conscious choice to enter a creation process, but to try and develop a practice, a routine to cope with the unknown that Covid-19 has brought. The community around the studio, as well as in Friedrischshagen, lives in a different speed than the city. Adapting to this new pace made me reflect on and appreciate stillness and patience.

During the two months I was resident in the studio, I spent my time between running, writing, gardening and dancing, trying not to create any hierarchies between the different actions, and treat them all as sources of inspiration and manifestation of emotional states. Slowly I formed up a ‚movement approach‘ that I tried to remain true to in that period, revolving around the idea of ‚the fall‘. I explored submission, letting go, not-defying-gravity, articulating the construction and deconstruction of my body.

As a trained circus artist, I am immediately drawn to exploring the unconventional possibilities of a new space I arrive to. On my first day of work there were two gymnastics rings hung from the ceiling of the big studio, and I saw it as a sign. Suspending on the rings gave another dimension and physicality to my research, which allowed me to explore the fall both in a technical and poetic manner.

During the process I’ve found myself quite balanced. The idea of surrendering to another pace, to a longer and more profound work process (which is still ongoing) made me feel at ease. Nature had a big influence on the journey of this project, and I am grateful to have had access to the wild every day. The process climaxed before leaving the studio, during a first online ‚Unfinished Friday‘ in which I presented the work, or at least where I was with it back then. It was a strange experience, to perform for an invisible audience, which left me with many question marks regarding the future of performance during a pandemic.

Upon returning to my home in the city I took time to digest the experience and decided to create an interactive online page for this project, which I call migrena2X2:

https://www.yotampeled.com/migrena2x2