Daniel Lanz  – 

Neu auch in Zürich
long-term Performance

A "discussion" with a Performer in an long-term Performance.

It is getting dark outside and very cold. I nohce an old Bahnhof luggage trolley full of wires, an old stove, with a live digital screen. Looks very cool -a sort of what I imagine to be a Homeless accessory for communications or "digital cooking" on the street (me being from New York). Of course, we are in Zürich where I assume even the Homeless are digitally active. This High tech assemblage, rolling gadget or communicahon center on wheels seems like a Nam June Paik for the street. It is from the Artist Daniel Lanz.

We start to talk, or rather ask? We ask mare questions than really make conversation. He asks himself: Performance or no Performance? Am I acting like myself or being in the role of oneself? Are we all acting? Are we invisible when not in a role? It gets confusing for me. He seems to be at odds with himself and the role of his Performance today. He speaks of experimenting, seeing what happens if he just hangs around and what kind of perception he will get. He is also stepping out of a role, breaking the narrative, the representation, to be discovered . He even mentions Gordon Meta Clark the Artist who became famaus for cutting sections out of bui ldings in his series called "Bui lding Cuts," and associating the "cutting out" or breaking the formality of a Performance. At the end he invents an Artist in the role of a Performer who knows he is anyway performing by just being there or here.
What about the fancy Homeless Communication Center? Well, I guess i t served the purpose of getting attention...

Carlos Varela