gähnen

Video | 2019

The video installation yawn explores empathy and the unique physicality of yawning – a gesture often negatively perceived in social contexts. Yawning is commonly interpreted as a sign of disinterest and is therefore suppressed in public. For Ronja Römmelt, however, yawning represents a moment of relaxation and fascinates her as an involuntary loss of bodily control.

Together with performer Maria Rebecca Sautter, Römmelt developed a choreographic method to artificially induce yawning. Over the course of more than an hour, the video shows Sautter repeatedly engaging in this attempt. Each time she succeeds in yawning, she fully surrenders to the physical impulses it triggers. At the same time, the movement material gradually detaches from its origin – the performer appears caught in an exhausting cycle of failure and success.

This impression is intensified by the audio layer, experienced through headphones, which makes the performer's musical interplay of tension and release viscerally tangible.

Choreography:
Ronja Römmelt

Performer:
Maria Rebecca Sautter

Camera:
Lea Gygi

Duration:
01:06:22 minutes, 8 takes of approx. 8 minutes each

Playback Mode:
Loop

Technical Setup:
Projection

Production:
Studio RR

Supported by:
City of Zug, Canton of Zug, Migros Culture Percentage