Anatomy of the Industrial Arena
The location, a former tram depot, serves as an emotionally indifferent character. With its high hall and centuries of industrial patina, the depot represents mechanical might and historical endurance. The naked, fleeting human body stands in stark contrast to this structural longevity. Zollinger uses the depot’s sheer volume to amplify the performer’s thermal and physical vulnerability. The architecture, originally designed to house, service, and protect large machines, now paradoxically magnifies the unprotected frailty of the individual. The vast verticality of the hall minimizes the performer’s scale, forcing the audience to grapple with the tension between individual existence and institutional weight.
Ritualizing Resistance through Slowness
Zollinger’s performance style, encompassing minimal standing and intensely slow walking, directly subverts the mandate of capitalist efficiency. Modern industry demands speed, output, and utilitarian movement; Zollinger’s ritualized slowness serves as an “anti-spectacle” plugin. It compels the observer to confront the intrinsic value of simply existing, divorced from the necessity of production. Performers like Philemon Mukarno and Marc Lüthi embody this resistance, turning mundane acts into a contemplative masterpiece. These performers force a reckoning with how we define human value, proving that the body, in its slowest, most unadorned state, remains a powerful instrument of self-assertion against instrumental rationality.
The Counter-Monument
While the depot is slated to be preserved as a contemporary architectural monument, the Human Installation remains inherently temporary. It leaves no material trace, creating an ironic “counter-monument.” It protects the memory of vulnerable human presence against the rigid, permanent history of the industrial site. This performance lingers long after the duration ends, providing a lasting reference point for conceptual art that prioritizes the ephemeral human imprint over the cold, indifferent machine of history. Ultimately, this installation asserts that while buildings may endure, the raw, vulnerable presence of the human spirit holds an intrinsic value that transcends mechanical function and industrial decay.
