AT YOUR SERVICE/

rest your head on my lap

 

I want to file your nails
and sing you to sleep

 

feed you vegetable soup
peel off the wallpaper in your living room
help you put your coat on
and bend over to
take off your shoes 

I will fix your leaking tap
pierce your ears
sort your trash
count your steps
rinse your laundry

I want to iron your socks

scrub your bathtub with bleach 

find your keys

let me serve you

I think you want it, too

 

“At Your Service” is a delicate participatory performance that explores the act of service in a performative context, forming a fusion of installation, performing arts and one-to-one encounters between the spectators and performers. 

The concept of the production stems from a longing for closeness, care and nurturing. The desire to lay one’s head on another’s lap, to forget everyday worries for a moment. The desire to have someone else make difficult decisions for us. To be able to surrender, even for a moment, to someone or something that might offer some solace or support. 

We turn to services when we are unable or unwilling to serve ourselves. We pay a fee and receive something we (think we) need in exchange. Services fill gaps. But which gaps remain unfilled? Which gaps cannot be filled by services? Which services act as substitutes to fill another longing?