The Beggar's Diary, 28.08.2007.- Today is the day Filch intends to make his last act of protest to protect Mark Wallinger’s Thread. A couple of days ago he had found, in his mailbox, a postcard in sign language and with the sentence: "Finger weg vom Faden." His last protest will accordingly be a silent one. But, first, he wants to leave a message at the Spiekerhof indicating that he’s organizing a silent protest. As he arrives, he finds two A4 sheets of paper, one on the ground, and one on the trash can. One says: “Filch’s end will come," the other: "It's up to us!"
Now, here’s something new: “at last some excitement in this place,” he thinks. He smiles and replies to each of the messages on the same A4 sheets: "But not today!" and "Come out and play"
He’s curious about what will happen next. On his way out, he finds more of the same messages: in his mailbox ("what's going to happen?"), at the Landesmuseum, and near Isa Genzken's piece. This is starting to worry him a bit: does someone want to help him die? Who knows, maybe he needs a guard after all.
He has a long way to go, on Anna's bike, to finish his 'silent' protest (please see the movie, which says it all; and many thanks to Jens, Rene, Vanessa, Enrico, Davit, Katrin and Nils!!!). “Finger weg vom Faden”—may it it be heard all over town, thinks Filch.
In the afternoon, Filch thinks about his meeting with the President, tomorrow. He's tired after all the walking and bike riding. He passes a wellness center and, for the second time, he decides to try his luck. He walks in and the woman informs him that he doesn’t need an appointment. But it’s all mechanical here! Filch is a little disappointed that there are no real hands to take care of him, but it'll be better than nothing. He explains he's Filch The Beggar, and the woman, pointing at the maps and flyers of the SPM07, tells him he can go in for free—if he agrees to mention his visit in the blog, that is. Filch tells her that he’s not responsible for the blog, but that he'll try his best. Before getting started, Filch is asked to sign a liability paper stating that he has no diseases and is in good health. Whatever health problems he might have are his own responsibility the owner of the place explains. She puts him in a "Massagesessel" and gives him a Shiatsu program with: “klopfen und kneten, vibration gesäß, beine pressen und ["last but not least"] wellness musik.”
He leaves the fitness center feeling reborn. He shows some Japanese visitors Gustav Metzger’s work and tries to explain it as wells as he can.
Add new comment »
