Plato’s Symposium

with artist Stéphane Querrec

Loosely based on Plato’s Symposium, Anu Pennanen and Stephane Querrec invite 30 guests to perform love letters, collected from various literary sources, across a real diner situation in Berlin’s L40 Art Centre. Among the guests: a lawyer, a politician, a few artists, 5 curators, some art lovers and the architect of the building. The whole event was filmed by a professional film crew and framed by the bold setting of the space, the high -albeit unstable- social status of the cultural class invited, contrasting or going along with the enchantment, boredom or despair expressed in the texts read aloud.

Video still.

“Sometimes I turn around and catch the smell of you and I cannot go on I cannot fucking go on without expressing this terrible so fucking awful physical aching fucking longing i have for you. And I cannot believe that I can feel this for you and you feel nothing. Do you feel nothing? (silence)

Do you feel nothing? (silence)

And I go out at 6 in the morning and start my search for you. If I’ve dreamt a message of a street or a pub or a station I go there. And I wait for you. (silence)

You know, I really feel like I’m being manipulated.”

Video still.

A 22- minute film titled ‘Plato’s Symposium’ was premiered in L40 2. June 2011. The original guests and general public of the ‘Hospitality’-week-end could view the film in its original location. Plato’s Symposium: 22-minutes color film with stereo sound on HD. Support by the Verein zur Förderung von Kunst und Kultur am Rosa- Luxemburg-Platz .