A kaleidoscope of
images drawn from the work of Hans Bellmer, filtered through the artistic
experiences and aesthetics of the performers, who have been
exploring his works and life for years. By directly referencing the works of
both, the project also constitutes a specific study of female physicality and
sexuality and their connections with the act of creation.
It is, in a sense, a “doll’s game”
(echoing the title of Bellmer’s 1949 book). Whereas Bellmer’s photographs often
made the doll appear to come alive - transforming into a “real” girl or woman -
SUKA OFF reverses the direction on stage: a living woman is gradually turned
into a doll. Yet this doll is never merely an object. It becomes a state of
being - something akin to a dream or a trance - one can enter and leave at
will. In this temporary objectification lie new possibilities of the body, the
very possibilities Bellmer pursued so obsessively throughout his life.
DIE PUPPE takes the form of an open,
evolving performance. It is a hybrid of visual/plastic theatre, contemporary
dance, and body art. The stage functions as the artist’s studio; the
performative action becomes a process, almost a session, in which artifacts are
created in real time.
The first “sketch” entitled DIE
PUPPE was presented in 2010 in Katowice - Hans Bellmer’s birthplace and the
city where SUKA OFF members live and work. Since then the group has repeatedly
returned to this motif - through new performances, video works, and
photographic series - presenting them across Europe, in New York, Mexico, and
Tokyo.
In 2025, marking the 50th
anniversary of Hans Bellmer’s death, SUKA OFF created a substantially expanded
and renewed version of DIE PUPPE, incorporating fresh scenographic and
choreographic solutions.
In 2026, DIE PUPPE won the Jury Prize at the Festival of Avant-Garde Theatre and Culture PESTKA.
PERFORMANCES:
sketches:
03.12.2010 / Bellmer Society / Piastowska 1 Studio / Katowice / PL
06.05.2011 / Torture Garden / London / UK
11.03.2013 / MHW / Poznan / PL
30.01.2014 / Theatre in Window / Gdansk / PL
18.06.2014 / Per Aspera Festival / Bologna / IT
12.02.2015 / RAWA Theatre / Katowice / PL
20.03.2015 / RAWA Theatre / Katowice / PL
23.04.2015 / Body Probe / London / UK
30.05.2015 / 20 YEARS OF SUKA OFF / RAWA Theatre / Katowice / PL
15.08.2015 / Manifest / Copenhagen / DK
23.10.2015 / The Wounded Carnivale / Strasbourg / FR
31.10.2015 / RAWA Theatre / Katowice / PL
31.12.2015 / Nude Noir / London / UK
24.10.2016 / Sadistic Circus / Tokyo / JP
11.03.2017 / Bodies / Berlin / DE
08.09.2017 / Andromedon / Tychy / PL
15.06.2018 / Le Beau est Toujours Bizarre / Basel / CH
