Success is a fragile construct that can manifest and collapse in a fleeting moment. “Creating My Own Tomorrow” addresses the polarity of success and failure in artistic creation. Fame and the desire for artistic success has repeatedly emerged as a theme in pop culture (whether encapsulated by Andy Warhol or popularized by David Bowie and Lady Gaga). In “Creating My Own Tomorrow” 2+ seeks to illuminate the passion and inner drive that sanctions the exploitation of those who may one day experience fame and/or eventually be destroyed by that which they most desire.

Philip Bussmann and Célestine Hennermann, in collaboration with performance artist Janice Perry and dancers Kristina Veit and Alfredo Zinola, have scavenged personal history and news media to establish a performance landscape of creative vagabonds drifting between the pursuit of fame and fear of failure. Bussmann’s blinding white floor is divided by a white polythene curtain (4 m x 30 m), with audience members on either side. The curtain’s height and length allows it to respond to movement and thus exists as a fluid, reacting backdrop to the dancers’ movements. Marek Lamprecht’s lighting transforms the curtain from a cold, opaque white background to a warm translucent veil that offers a view of the dancer on the opposite side. Perry crosses around and through the curtain, linking the sides, and eventually tears it down, allowing the audience a full view of the performers and each other. The piece ends with a series of questions about fame and its pitfalls, as Veit and Zinola gradually escalate a pas-de-deux from melancholy to frenzy.

2+ is a platform for collaboration with artists from all disciplines, based in Frankfurt, Germany. Bussmann and dramaturg Célestine Hennermann are its core members.