Phoenix

While we may seem to be walking on a direct trajectory through life, we are in fact destined to engage in a never ending cyclical motion composed of birth, growth, stagnation, death and ultimately birth once more. Whether we burn and die in this process or whether we burn and live on ultimately depends on our capacity to connect with our own inner strength – something that can be witnessed in both the most personal decisions of our daily lives and in the greatest achievements of society. But how do we connect to this inner strength? It might be by pushing ourselves to exceed our limits and by risking our own annihilation that we can, through courage, come to a greater understanding of – and compassion for – who we were and what we might ultimately become.

This is the concept that lies at the very heart of Phoenix: while situations and surroundings within the piece may change and mutate, the energy of the participants remains constant. Their positive aggressiveness, physical assertiveness and playful spirit relentlessly resist outer influences. This core strength defies all extraneous factors and pushes ever onward towards the realization of a more dignified essence. Just as the phoenix is consumed by the flames only to be reborn from them, what awaits us once we have ‘walked through fire’ might in fact be simply our own selves in a more conscious and purified state.

“Energetic and colorful Phoenix by Kratz. Explosive, a powerful, volitive piece that conquers the spectator.” Maria Luisa Buzzi

Philippe Kratz is ‘Member of the stARTacademy of Bayer Arts & Culture’.