Occupy the Present –
activist performance number 1
In mid February this year I went for a midnight walk through Stockholm, doing an activist performance that I have wanted to do for a long time. This time without an audience, but the performance was, if I might say so, still delivered with elegance, wit and respect.
I did start with taking the metro to the University. My goal was to deliver letters under the slogan “Occupy the Present”. This slogan is my creation, free to use, but when doing so one has to refer to me in a suitable manner. See more about the concept on my blog: https://spiritualempowerment.blog/2023/07/13/occupy-the-present/
I delivered one letter to the University of Stockholm, with an echo of a question that I have seen researchers talk about for a while – “How does the development of wages for people with a masters degree look like since 2010?”.
I further went to the parliament building, delivering the letter that you can see below. It is a humorous question with a serious message, hinting towards a new Swedish law, which prohibits public discussions and whistle blowers from revealing national security issues in a way that might damage Swedish interests, as well as the Swedish image abroad. Image. As if we are a logo for a company. There was widespread critique towards the law, but it went through anyway. My question was directed towards who or what institutions are supposed to decide what is damaging?
Furthermore I went to a special street in the same district, to a certain doorway which has no information on who sits in the building. There I ended with finger theater, with me or my generation talking to the Swedish tax authority. The issues varied between questions around the pension payment system to how certain taxes are calculated.
All of the questions will be delivered in a correct and suitable manner via post to the institutions in question by me, with a presentation of the performance attached. I will ask politely to get a response to my concerns, as is the right of any Swedish citizen.
Dance videos
A Dance for Gaia
The ritual, performance and body painting art project A Dance for Gaia is an online performance. The series portrays an unknown Goddess. Sparked by an impulse of compassion, she lands on Earth, takes on the colors of the environment and dances for Gaia. The emotions that she experiences through her deep empathy with our home planet are varied and deep.
A step in hope for liberation and regeneration
Movement in rhythm with the flow of life
A ceremony for the being that we call home
In Greek mythology, Gaia is the personification of the Earth and one of the Greek primordial deities. Gaia is the ancestral mother of all life: the primal Mother Earth goddess. The spirit of the project A Dance for Gaia revolves around love for nature, a desire to be fully present as well as a deeply felt wish to remind us to be there for the planet that we call home.
Concept and performance: Susan Florries
Bodypaint and photography: Peter Engelhardt, diegoettin.com
Dance and storytelling
Klangfarbentanz in Nürnberg, April 2016, photos and body painting by the goddess painter Peter Engelhardt.
TranceFormAnce with A Fairy Tale, June 2016 @ Tree of Life Gathering, Kauzen, Austria. Photos by Marija Zoi.
A Fairy Tale with Spirit Dancers @ Boom Festival, August 2016, stills from video material by Sam Gillen.
A Fairy Tale @ Transition Base, Aspern Seestadt, Vienna, April 2016, photo by Ana Leko Nikolic.
Dancing @ OneBillionRising Vienna, February, 2016.