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performative urban intervention at Steirischer Herbst, Graz

In her new urban intervention and performance, Flo Kasearu playfully addresses the question of security and order in the city, spreading creative chaos and pointing toward repressive structures in an ephemeral and poetic way.

In most places across the world, public space was being divided into different security zones long before COVID-19. This was the case in Graz too, with not only the streets but also the parks being declared special zones of order. Here as elsewhere, these are not only patrolled by the police. Private security companies are joined by the Ordnungswache (lit. “order patrol”), a municipally-run neighborhood watch organization separate from the police with its own distinctive uniforms. With the onset of the pandemic and restrictions upon movement, the question of public space and its supposed safety became ever more urgent.

Flo Kasearu’s new work responds to this situation with a performative course through the streets of Graz. Wearing uniforms with exaggerated headgear, twelve—sometimes mounted—performers sow productive disorder in the city they patrol, melding absurdity with reality and queering the image of law enforcement agencies, which are increasingly dominant in Graz’s streets. The route of the performance connects different parts of the city, with short stops for ribbon gymnastics and more.

Mounted performers: Susanne Hohenberg with Imperial, Sarah Fritzenwanker with Wijnand van de zwarte Diamant, Sandra Plasser with Ramiro, Melanie Reidinger with Tsjipke V van de midwei, Barbara Simon with Don Vito, Fiona Knödler with Prima Donna SPORT-ELITE
Ribbon performers: Winnie Petric, Emese Horti, Mirjam Purkarthofer, Bernadette Laimbauer, and others
Custom hats: Riina Rosin
Technical assistance: Tõnu Narro
Thanks to Viktoria Chanterie, Regina Vitányi, Karl Kaisel, and Andra Aaloe
Commissioned and produced by Steirischer Herbst ʼ21
Disorder Patrol (2021) is a new and site-specific version of the work Costume Drama (2017; in collaboration with Andra Aaloe).