Suspended Territoriality

Suspended Territoriality is a performance and editorial directed by Hugh Gleeson situated within the historic Meistersaal in West Berlin. A ‘space in suspension’ is marked within this neoclassical interior through a temporary installation that reflects political conditions in which bodies are immobilised, rendered vulnerable and subjugated through spatial constraint. Within such conditions, resistance emerges as a necessity against the suspension of personal rights and bodily autonomy. The work is dedicated to the oppressed peoples of Palestine and is informed by the struggles encountered by those who protest their cause in Germany and elsewhere.

During the performance, a central body undergoes an initial process of subjugation enacted by two authoritarian bodies. The body is gradually suspended within the structure along with its identity and agency. Subjected to further acts of violence and distortion, the suspended body reaches a point of determined resistance. In turn, it begins to assert control over the previously authoritarian bodies, appropriating the structure once used to oppress and transforming it into a site of emancipation.

Gleeson views monumentality and monumental works of architecture not as neutral containers but as active agents in the enforcement of control and the propagation of power across successive regimes. The installation is intended to operate simultaneously as an extension of the existing space, revealing its embedded power, and also as a structure that can be resisted, and re-appropriated.

Gleeson’s practice involves a tactile approach to designing structures and spaces. The central suspension apparatus was developed through material research and experimentation, producing skin-like sheets from natural liquid latex that hang as bodily membranes, deliberately contrasted with a dark, untreated steel framework fabricated through welding and bolting. This tension reflects the intertwined relationship between structure and body, foregrounding the violence embedded within their contact.

Suspended Territoriality

Suspended Territoriality is a performance and editorial directed by Hugh Gleeson situated within the historic Meistersaal in West Berlin. A ‘space in suspension’ is marked within this neoclassical interior through a temporary installation that reflects political conditions in which bodies are immobilised, rendered vulnerable and subjugated through spatial constraint. Within such conditions, resistance emerges as a necessity against the suspension of personal rights and bodily autonomy. The work is dedicated to the oppressed peoples of Palestine and is informed by the struggles encountered by those who protest their cause in Germany and elsewhere.

During the performance, a central body undergoes an initial process of subjugation enacted by two authoritarian bodies. The body is gradually suspended within the structure along with its identity and agency. Subjected to further acts of violence and distortion, the suspended body reaches a point of determined resistance. In turn, it begins to assert control over the previously authoritarian bodies, appropriating the structure once used to oppress and transforming it into a site of emancipation.

Gleeson views monumentality and monumental works of architecture not as neutral containers but as active agents in the enforcement of control and the propagation of power across successive regimes. The installation is intended to operate simultaneously as an extension of the existing space, revealing its embedded power, and also as a structure that can be resisted, and re-appropriated.

Gleeson’s practice involves a tactile approach to designing structures and spaces. The central suspension apparatus was developed through material research and experimentation, producing skin-like sheets from natural liquid latex that hang as bodily membranes, deliberately contrasted with a dark, untreated steel framework fabricated through welding and bolting. This tension reflects the intertwined relationship between structure and body, foregrounding the violence embedded within their contact.

CREATIVE DIRECTION & ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN HUGH GLEESON
PHOTOGRAPHY & LIGHT TECH KASPER JERNHAG
VIDEOGRAPHY MAX M. THILLAYE
SOUNDTRACK DESIGN ZACH BUCKLEY, HUGH GLEESON
MOVEMENT DIRECTION WON JUNE CHOI, HUGH GLEESON
STYLING LIZA AGAFONOVA
HAIR ANNA BROADFOOT
MAKE-UP JESSE STRIKWERDA
MODELS VIKTORIA YERCHYK, TONI WALKER, WON JUNE CHOI
CO-PRODUCTION LUKE TACKABERRY, HUGH GLEESON
TITLE GRAPHIC DESIGN IZLEM UCVET
CONSTRUCTION ASSISTANTS IZZY GORMAN-BUCKLEY, CATHY DORMAN, TATA ZAKARAIA, DIEGO REGALADO GIL, JOEL TITO, BENCA KOVÁCS, KAJA TERZE

WEARING LUDOVIC DE SAINT SERNIN, VERA YOICE, MALENE SPECHT, OTTOLINGER, STUDIO 183, CALZEDONIA