Hannes Schumacher
Sitan ola’itur moor,
mas elefsent, mas
ola’itan mana. Shachsit
saban. Min lahan ut
lafsin, min lafsin ut
laha, min onur! Min
onur, aylaha, min onur,
chakara sin … Na tu
fesatli ti kalabisetel bil
ne, ti malachisetel bi
nin, sikasata – nu wota
bis astish? –, si kasata
kuna’irat kes bithalté.
Orbun vagar: no selto
sish erlese mia tanar,
luch kathirulatas,
notelpos, belugan.
Wilamach genese mia
fatush, au siko
filachsint os naga
zaribat, os naga sat
zaribatar, fil olan
ushtan mia ichsotan
yesfal yelushtan,
ichsotan zaribat
sabaar.
*How are we to express the inexpressible in a global Babylon?
Inspired by the philosopher Giorgio Agamben’s expression that in our time law has no longer a meaning but is still ‘in force’, this text articulates the possibility of a lawless law, or of a language that is devoid of all meaning. Put in reverse, the text is open to all meanings and to the infinite flow of our imagination, creating new meanings each time it is read, merely according to the reader’s own interpretation and the corresponding sound of each word articulated by embodied voice.
This textwork was originally shown at the walls of the artspace Chaosmos in Athens, Greece, as part of the exhibition Gold Rush (2018) by vandaloop collective. Our visitors were invited to imagine, to sing or read the text as if it were their mother tongue.~
Is it a religious text, a sarcastic poem or a cooking recipe? Give it a try and sing or read the text as if it were your mother tongue, as if you always knew it: recall all your Kassandras and madmen; recall all your Kassandras and madmen – but first of all, imagine.
Here you may listen to a small selection of recordings from the exhibition: