Ereignisse (Occurrences) - Thomas Bernhard
Set design for this conceptual performance based in the short storie
A MACHINE that is like a guillotine is cutting off large pieces of a slowly advancing mass of rubber and letting them fall on to a conveyor belt that is advancing one level below and at which are seated female temporary workers who have to inspect the pieces and eventually pack them into large cardboard boxes. The machine has been in operation for only a few weeks, and the day of its dedication by the factory’s management [is one that] nobody who was present at that solemn ceremony will ever forget. It had been brought to the factory in a specially constructed train car, and the man who made the dedicatory speech emphasized that this machine represented one of the greatest of all technological triumphs [to date]. Its entrance into the factory was greeted by the strains of an orchestra and the male workers and the engineers welcomed it with doffed hats. Its installation took fourteen days and its owners were able to assure themselves of its efficiency and reliability. It simply has to be lubricated regularly, and naturally every fourteen days, with special oils. To this end a female worker is obliged to climb a steel spiral staircase and slowly release the oil through a valve. The female worker is thoroughly briefed down to the smallest [detail of the operation]. In spite of this, the girl loses her footing in such an unfortunate way as to end up decapitated. Her head splats like the pieces of rubber down below. The female workers who are sitting at the conveyor belt are so appalled that not one of them can cry out. They deal with the head in the usual way they deal with the pieces of rubber. The girl at the end of the line picks up the head and packs it into a box.
