CPPM Manifestal'24: “between me and the fish”. Britt Kõrsmaa + Artist Talk • CPPM Manifestal'24: “between me and the fish I once was”. Britt Kõrsmaa

Director: Britt Kõrsmaa

Visual artist: Mikk-Mait Kivi

Sound artist: Hendrik Kaljujärv

Scenographer: Natali Mällo

Performers/Co-creators: Maarja Tosin (EST), Markus Ian Monak (EST), Shion Yokoo (JP/EST), Triin Kauber (EST)

Thank you: Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre, Eesti Kultuurkapital, Jüri Nael, Giacomo Veronesi, CPPM family & guest artists, CPPM Manifestal, Purje Vara OÜ, Marina Lattu, Eero Lattu, Anet Vallsalu

”between me and the fish I once was” is a response to the piece “(dis)appearance: a swan song” that has never taken place. Britt’s final project “(dis)appearance: a swan song” was supposed to premiere at the empty pool of Pirita TOP. The performance description read:

Pirita TOP’s hotel and spa facilities have stood empty for the last few years as it is waiting for construction work to renew the indoor spaces. At first, the existing rooms need to be demolished. Demolishment is to be started from the swimming pool. The swimming pool is frozen in time, standing emptied of water, having lost its function, its life’s meaning, waiting for its death. It’s in a borderline state already decomposing but still existing in its current state. It’s a long, stretched-out farewell. This sense of impending doom has put the empty pool in an absurdly tragic existentialistic situation. “(dis)appearance: a swan song” is a send-off, a dedication, a lament, a rite, an invitation, a bathing in absence, an embrace of emptiness.

Ironically, the actual life course of the space has embodied Britt’s artistic concept. Over the winter, as the building was left at the mercy of natural forces, when spring came, it wasn’t anymore able to be the host of a performance project. Much more pragmatic processes have taken over: decay, toxic mold, and the structures of the building becoming unstable and dangerous. The piece “between me and the fish I once was” is Britt Kõrsmaa’s final project 1.2, the process of which has reflected its artistic content: decomposition and regeneration, grief and relief, and being in constant change and flow. “between me and the fish I once was” is a site-specific performance that explores transience, impermanence, and flux. It’s a body-based, place-oriented meditative journey that contemplates on the paradox of time. Humans interact with flowing water, researching its agency, sensoriality and exploring the interaction with it. 

“between me and the fish I once was” is a dialogue between two places, two states of being, two worlds, two points in time and countless beings. Impermanence and constant transformation are the essential qualities of all that lives and exists. How do we adjust to places that become unfunctional, uninhabitable, and even dangerous? How do we come to terms with the futility of controlling the flux? How do we cope with our own transformations?

The performance takes place in the Pirita River Valley Landscape Conservation Area in Tallinn in the Pirita subdistrict of Kose, the exact coordinates of the meeting place will be sent via e-mail.