Paradise Now!
performance with Michael Schneider
outdoor exhibition 'Vogelfrei 6 - paradise gardens', Darmstadt 2005
Is there a paradise? This is one of the in principle undecidable questions. These questions, according to the constructivist Heinz von Foerster, take every single human being into the responsibility of finding a personal answer. The question about paradise holds a mirror up to me. In my answer I find myself, my world view, my beliefs. Paradise - an ingenious invention as antipole to our world of opposites, of constant change, of mortality. We transported this idea into today, into a world in which everything seems to be for sale and orderable for the appropriate amount of money, and invented the paradise service team:
'Utopia, Schlaraffia, Nirvana? Your p s t - paradise service team - delivers the appropriate model for every world view. p s t constructs, installs and conserves your personal paradise, made to measure and free of charge. p s t puts an end to the confusing world of opposites! p s t puts an end to change and mortality! Paradise now!
Two workers in gray overalls with the logo p s t printed on them enter the garden, equipped with toolbox, tape measure, barrier tape and yellow drainage pipe. They cordon off a work area, prepare their surroundings (the grass is cleared of dust, the water surface in the pond is checked for horizontality, and other surreal actions), finally wrap the yellow pipe around the large cherry tree, let an apple previously locked in a safe pass through the pipe and fall into the small water basin. After a synchronized breakfast break at the pond to the noise of a radio, the workers leave the garden.
