How do I get from here to there? By crossing the space in between, the transition zone. Yet there is never a clean cut, clearly dividing ‘from’ and ‘to’. The transition from one to the other is gradual, the one ever merging entirely into the other.

Transitus is a performance that deals with a transition zone whose permeability is in flux. To begin with, the transition zone designed by the new music choir Cantiamo Kassel was open and stroller Gerhard Lang could pass through it with his walking stick. Shortly afterwards, the zone was closed, expressed in the choreography and dissonant sound. Several times, the stroller Lang was prevented from entering the transition zone before the doors opened, and, with the mobile zebra crossig [1], change was ushered in. For a brief moment, the impermeable became permeable. Even after those carrying the zebra crossing had left the space again, the choir had lost its dominance, the choreography and sound approximated the initial motif, then a freeze, and the chord gradually faded away.

[1] Lang’s mobile zebra crossing was part of a “zebra crossing” walk, developed by students at the University of Kassel. On May 19, 1993, accompanied by Lucius Burckhardt the students took the mobile zebra crossing through Kassel’s inner city, an environment hostile to pedestrians, and used it to cross streets normally impassable. The mobile zebra crossing is owned by the University of Kassel. For more information, klick on The Mobile Zebra Crossing.

[From: “aneducation – documenta 14”, Archive Books, Berlin, 2018, 307-314]

The performance Transitus at documenta 14 was a collaboration between Gerhard Lang and the New Music choir Cantiamo Kassel. Transitus was performed at the documenta Halle at 7 pm on 15 September 2017.
Illustrations:

Ill. I: 19. Mai 1993. Der mobile Zebrastreifen auf der Kurt-Wolters-Straße. 600 Spaziergänger benötigten 20 Minuten für die Überquerung. Photo: Helmut Aebischer

Ill. II: Transitus, Graphit auf Papier, Gerhard Lang, 2017

Ill. III-XX: Die Performance Transitus in der documenta Halle.
Photos: III, IV, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XVII, XVIII, XIX: Nicolas Wefers;
XVI: Helmut Aebischer;
V, XII, XIII, XIV, XV: Mathias Völzke;
XX: Fernando Vargas

The choir Cantiamo Kassel form the University of Kassel: Andreas Cessak (conductor), Susanne Aigner, Rahaf, Alrasis, Volker Ballhausen, Björn Bäuchle, Artur Bittner, Charlotte Christen, Paul Christen, Julia Fiedler, Stella Degenhardt, Martina Habeck, Tatjana Hein, Wiebke Höfer, Nathalie Indra, Eva Klein, Sabrina Kuhaupt, Polyana Loureiro, Deborah Milwa, Leonie Scharfe, Phillip Schleicher, Felix Schröder, Lorez Schuster, Josef Vollmer, Johanna Wurz, Maret Zepernick

The carriers: Ulf Balzer, Bastian Durek, Michael Gärtner, Helmut Holzafel, Lasha Karkashadze, Roka Lamprecht, Thomas Majewski, Ingo Nitsche, Dieter Roelstraete, Lina Walde |

Thanks to:
documenta 14
Sourisseaux / Partners
University of Kassel
Edith and Hans Fritz Lang
Helmut Aebischer and Regina Riedel
Annie Vigier and Frank Apertet (les gens d’Uterpan)
Stefan Amtsberg
Helmut Holzapfel
Martin Kürschner
Floris M. Neusüss
Ursula Panhans-Bühler
Gerhard Pfennig
Volker Rattemeyer
Tom Westerdale
Stephan Weyer-Menkhoff

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