Do you love your work? Should artists love their work?
What questions should one address? What is a performance artist?
Well, lets ask instead what the others are doing, that is to say, those who are not performing
Who is our public? Some, for example, carry a Kino with them in the form of a laptop and
disappear into the world of their movie. They are often seen in trains and planes and in cafés

“…in the Movie, no Movie…no Movie in the Movie.” Paul Virillo

Others are observing acutely the details of the Movie around them.
When we are not performing our public roles, our public character,
when we take off the masks, who are we?

“I always begin with questions, because I have no answers.” Julian Beck

Do these random observations and questions have anything to do with the performers
interest in reinventing the possibilities of public appearance and disappearance?
How does one want to ____appear in public?
How does a group want to___appear in public?
Is there a collective? Is it possible?
The collaborators of the Open Space Performunion have very little in common
with one another in the themes and forms of our individual works,
or in the mediums with which we work.
One thing which we certainly do have in common, is that we all live in the same city, Berlin, but come, in fact, from very different geographical and linguistic points on the map, and have from time to time, some kind of magnetic need for each other’s capacities as artists, and to mix our individual creations together in a kind of alchemist’s vessel.
Again and again, to exercise the necessity of attempting to “appear” in public space,
And to give evidence to the collective spirit, to give visible form to the experience stored in the cells of the collective body.
We are equally adept at working alone, but through the act of collaborating we throw ourselves into a situation, which enables us to more easily break out of our usual tendencies,
and to engage in risk together and cross over our borders.
The uniting interest is certainly a fascination with, and a dedication to handcraft and the continual search for challenging forms and unexpected juxtapositions.
When we work together, we give importance to the “telling of the story” in any form,
and are not afraid of “the theatrical” or of the incorporation of text, in fact, we rigorously integrate all of the diverse skills and histories which we possess individually or as a collective. Clearness of communication instead of aesthetic obscurity.
No need for Dogma or Manifesto, only the necessity of genuine human appearance.

“interesting is, that which is uncomfortable.” Gennadi Bogdanov

There is a constant renewal of the necessity of Art. This is not a question for us.

Stuttgarterstraße 55
12059 Berlin
tel.: 030 680 813 90
handy: 0174 3179322
e- mail: berlinbrehse@gmx.de
Geb. 05.07.58 in Albany, N.Y., U.S.A.
lebt seit 1998 in Berlin, in Deutschland
seit 1993 Gesang, Klavier und Performance art

Professionelle Engagements als Schauspieler und Regisseur