The Golden Break-off
The Golden Break-Off is a performative work realized at Galerie Das Zimmer.
The starting point of the performance is the controlled breaking of 30 porcelain plates as a physical action and symbolic act. Each plate represents one year of life; the project emerged during the transition into Viveka’s 30th year and addresses biographical ruptures, emotional strain, and processes of self-reflection.
During the performance, the plates were broken one by one. The act of breaking does not function as a spectacular gesture, but as a repeated, physically experienced action that translates inner states outward. The action addresses vulnerability, exhaustion, and the gradual disintegration of inner structures, without dramatizing or aestheticizing them.
One plate was kept by a close confidant until the end of the year. Another plate could not be broken during the performance, despite repeated attempts.
I understand this as an indication of an inner conflict that, at that time, could not yet be processed or resolved. The unbroken plate marks an open state something unresolved that consciously remains.
Following the live performance, the work continued in a video performance. In this second phase, I collected the broken porcelain fragments. The act of gathering involved physical strain and moments of injury, cuts sustained while handling the sharp shards, emphasizing the bodily risk and persistence embedded in the process.
This video performance documents the transition from rupture to reconstruction. It culminates in the creation of the large-scale installation: the fragments are fully covered in gold and reassembled. The gilding does not function as repair in the sense of restoration, but as a means of making fractures visible as part of one’s own history.
The intact plate remains in its original white form. Traces of red wine—resulting from a further attempt to break it with a glass—refer to intensity, resistance, and emotional threshold experiences.
The Golden Break-Off is conceived as an ongoing work. The originally planned conclusion—the breaking of the final plate at the end of the year—was deliberately suspended. Instead, the artist decided to keep the plate for the time being, until an emotional state is reached that allows this final step. The work addresses not only rupture and healing, but also the decision not to force processes, allowing them to remain open.