Artist Statement

"Halt" (2001-ongoing)

My performance series Halt (2001-ongoing) deals with our at times damaging ways of being in the world. Some of our actions seem to be very considerate, prolific, and seminal, yet they are not. And even what is being done with the best intentions can end up in a disaster. As well, what’s good for an individual must not be beneficial for the society as a whole. So what makes our doing valuable or sustainable then?

“Halt” is a performance project that comes with the winking of an eye. We all know the metaphor of cutting oneself off the branch one sits on which we understand to be a popular expression for counterproductive behavior and doing against better knowledge. Seeing an artist performing the sawing for real, induces humor in such a kind of action; and it is humor what makes a disastrous, traumatizing way of being in the world bearable; empathic, and affectionately absurd.

Richard Jochum