Changing Room 3 (Ouija DM)

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a work for Telegram in 27 parts
transmitted on t.me/ouija_dm
with English and German subtitles from Oct 7, 2020

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Whether Beethoven, Buffy, or Buster Keaton, the transformation of an interpreter into 'author' is a torsion of anachronisms and technological shifts. Changing Room 3 (Ouija DM) deals with the delusion of fidelity, and begins with the practice of fandom. A Ouija Board is traversed by a glass called a planchette. Lens-like, it scrapes across letters, numbers, and syllables; conveying answers from spirits. Ivan Cheng draws costumes and props from the archive of the Volksbuehne to encounter the structure of the liturgical mass and spaces of disbelief. What are the implicit biases of a death mask?

Changing Room 3 (Ouija DM) was proposed as a speculative hauntology around Tilman Hecker's upcoming project 'The World To Come'. The polyphony and transformations of Beethoven's Missa Solemnis form the foundation of this contemporary festival mass that brings Moor Mother, Planningtorock, Mohammad Reza Mortazavi, Colin Self, and Birke J. Bertelsmeier in dialogue with the Rundfunkchor Berlin and Radio Symphony Orchestra Berlin. (Oct 8-9)

with Ivan Cheng as Death Mask (beethoven), Drusilla (buffy-verse), Eleanor Keaton (buster).

Camera Alexander Iezzi

Translation and set assistant Hannah Endrulat

Concept, text, direction, edit Ivan Cheng

with a selection of costumes and props from the Volksbühne

Costume assistant Eleonore Carriere

Hair and makeup Jana Perschmann

Production coordinator Michael Ladner

Lighting technician Joachim Koltzer

Sound and Video tech Franca Weigert und Jackson Ford

featuring ‘Spill’, ‘Blood Moon’, ‘Everywhere’, ‘To Be Possessed’ by Marcus Whale, ‘Bring Me to Life’, ‘My Immortal’ by Evanescence, ‘My Ship’ by Kurt Weill, ‘Lose my breath’ by Destiny’s Child.

Thanks to Tilman Hecker, Marcus Whale, Arif Kornweitz, Özgür Kar, Ludovica Parenti, Mire Lee, Next Waves Theatre.