HORMOANS

We moan when we’re overwhelmed. We are hormoaners, a cocktail of physiological and neurological components on legs. The neurbiological and epigenetic composition of the cocktail changes us, our perception and therefore, the world as we experience it. There is a relationship between grief and sensing the world. Things taste, smell, sound different. Our hearing, touching, seeing is altered. We are altered – remain changed. My vision is blurred yet my mucous membranes sense texture, flavor. We seek protection, we seek insulation, we seek resource, we seek grease – how about adding a heap of butter? May I fry you up some comfort babydoll? I´ve made the grease myself. Stored it for you, fuelled it for you – perfectly tempered. Fuel from under my skin. From under my earth – glistening, congealed, rich. I´ll sustain for you, i´ll saturate for you. More than human carriers holding agency in my body.

Too much grief, I cannot digest. At least my deep fryer can pre-digest for me. Like a bird parent chews digests and vomits food for their young.

I remember my father, always wanting to be less, always on a starve. the body – that wants to be. The binge, claiming. I remember in our book shelf next to the anti-gay propaganda his diet books. One of them read “Help Lord, the devil wants me fat”.

I guess the devil also wanted me gay.

Wanted us gay. My father and I.

I never meant for this work to be about my father.

Teresa Vittucci (*Vienna) is an artist practicing across the fields of contemporary performance, theater and art. Her work investigates feminist and queer perspectives on the body, pop culture, history, religion and class. Bad jokes are always part of the process, humour being an essential aspect of her work with abstraction. Besides her extensive solo work as a solo artist, she has collaborated with several artists and institutions including Melanie Jame Wolf, Colin, Self, Michael Turinsky, Claire V. Sobottke, Simone Aughterlony, Marie Caroline Hominal, Trajal Harrell, Alexander Giesche, Annina Machaz, Theater HORA and Nils Amadeus Lange. Her works have been presented at Impulstanz, Centre Pompidou, Kampnagel Hamburg, Theaterspketakel Zurich, Kinani Festival Moçambique, Institute for Creative Arts in Cape Town, Deutsches Theater Berlin les urbaines, Impulse Theaterfestival, Festival Santarcangelo, Manifesta and several others.

Teresa has received the danceWEB scholarship and the austrian STARTstipendium scholarship. She was awarded the Recognition prize by the City of Zürich for her work as a performer 2018 and the Swiss Dance Prize for HATE ME, TENDER in 2019. Her Trilogy in praise of vulnerability: HATE ME, TENDER, DOOM and SANE SATAN continue to be toured extensively. In 2022 Teresa created RIDE on invitation by Centre Pompidou and Leopoldine Turbat. In October 2024 Teresa will launch her three year research on affect through a series of labs, Performances and productions around GRIEF, RAGE and ECSTASY. Teresa is currently an accomplice Artist at Tanzhaus Zürich.