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Furry performance art on the big stage
14 years ago
Sometimes you come across something genuinely furry in places you wouldn't expect it.
Last week one of the local theaters, Theaterhaus Gessnerallee in Zürich, staged a performance called Furry Species -- a "lecture performance" on human-animal hybrids by one Corinna Korth. In the lecture part of this performance, the artist explores a "scientific" perspective on creating hybrid beings, like genetic engineering, crossbreeding humans and animals (and the resulting phenotypes), and surgically altering humans to be more animal-like. (I would describe this as a parody of science, rather than a scientific lecture, hence the quotation marks.) The performance part deals with the artist's own desire to become more animal-like, in her case, more like a wolf. It culminates in a fake "operation" where a tail is sewn to her backside -- including lots of fake blood squirting at the audience. After all, you can't have performance art without fake blood.
The artist had reached out to the local furries beforehand, so seven of us attended the performance, including one fursuiter. (Not me -- I had to excuse myself for health reasons.)
Looking at other sources, it seems that Corinna Korth has been pursuing the idea of becoming a hybrid being for quite a while, while at the same time being completely outside of the furry scene. Her "scene" is performance art, to her turning into an animal is an artistic pursuit. Walking around in a wolf mask and riding the subway in it is an artistic expression. And yet becoming an anthropomorphic animal (or a zoomorphic human) is so quintessentially furry.
We talked with her after the show, and she was delighted that we came to attend her performance -- it seems that she's been trying to get in touch with the furry scene for a while but hasn't been very successful. Maybe we'll be able to change this -- I think her own special kind of furriness would be a worthwhile addition to the fandom. She has a kind of playful seriousness that sets her apart.
Here is a short video of her performance, see for yourself: (Some German may be required.)
Last week one of the local theaters, Theaterhaus Gessnerallee in Zürich, staged a performance called Furry Species -- a "lecture performance" on human-animal hybrids by one Corinna Korth. In the lecture part of this performance, the artist explores a "scientific" perspective on creating hybrid beings, like genetic engineering, crossbreeding humans and animals (and the resulting phenotypes), and surgically altering humans to be more animal-like. (I would describe this as a parody of science, rather than a scientific lecture, hence the quotation marks.) The performance part deals with the artist's own desire to become more animal-like, in her case, more like a wolf. It culminates in a fake "operation" where a tail is sewn to her backside -- including lots of fake blood squirting at the audience. After all, you can't have performance art without fake blood.
The artist had reached out to the local furries beforehand, so seven of us attended the performance, including one fursuiter. (Not me -- I had to excuse myself for health reasons.)
Looking at other sources, it seems that Corinna Korth has been pursuing the idea of becoming a hybrid being for quite a while, while at the same time being completely outside of the furry scene. Her "scene" is performance art, to her turning into an animal is an artistic pursuit. Walking around in a wolf mask and riding the subway in it is an artistic expression. And yet becoming an anthropomorphic animal (or a zoomorphic human) is so quintessentially furry.
We talked with her after the show, and she was delighted that we came to attend her performance -- it seems that she's been trying to get in touch with the furry scene for a while but hasn't been very successful. Maybe we'll be able to change this -- I think her own special kind of furriness would be a worthwhile addition to the fandom. She has a kind of playful seriousness that sets her apart.
Here is a short video of her performance, see for yourself: (Some German may be required.)
