Soliloquy with Ape

The project Soliloquy with Ape examines the border between human and animal. In several manifestations, a fictional conversation between a historical object and a literary figure unfolds. The historical object titled “The Nondescript” dates back to 1828 and is a stuffed monkey, shaped to appear human – as if being the final “missing link” between apes and humans. A text developed in reaction to this object, addressing and questioning it, is contrasted with fragments from the novel The Unnamable by Samuel Beckett, a novel circling around the dissolution of the narrating subject itself.

This work was made possible through a working stipend by Stiftung Kunstfond.

The soundwork was awarded with the Karl-Sczuka-Research Grant 2023 in collaboration with the Goethe-­Institute.

Listen to the full soundpiece on the website of Karl-Sczuka-Prize/SWR or in the ARD Audiothek

4-channel soundwork | black thread curtains, green neon lighting | 48:05 Min.| 2023