In the subcontext of the first ever exhibition in the bizarre Bärenzwinger in Berlin, PPKK was excited to transform the former bear kennel into a fully functional steam sauna. The Fountain of Liver Tea serves as the heart of this one day performance: a device created from a hacked washing machine that automatically produces a herbal infusion and subsequently spits it onto the heated rocks for aromatic steam and into the visitor’s cups for simultaneous ingestion. The herbs that spin in the machine were hand-picked on the terrain of the Bärenzwinger and contain a controlled combination of various healing properties based on herbalistic studies. The heated stones were also formerly part of the historical architecture and surrounding pavement. The effect of human bodies and brick walls drenched in this recalibrating steam along with the sound of sequential spinning cycles will cathartically sedate the melancholia that floats in what used to be a bear prison.
PPKK is a casual nomadic lab founded in Berlin 2016 by Sarah Ancelle Schönfeld and Louis-Philippe Scoufaras, in the pursuit of analyzing and reflecting upon specific (local) contexts, generating mythological, technological and trickster outputs in order to shift perspectives and enable fruitful new interpretations.
