RAUM · ZEIT
Rotating, floating spheres, sand, sound, and bodies form a performative landscape in RAUM · ZEIT, situated between contemporary circus, dance, and installation art.
Emerging from early experiments at the Biennale in Aix-en-Provence, premiered as a stage production in Cologne and at DOCK 11 in Berlin, and later developed into a durational walk-in installation for the season opening at PACT Zollverein, Tobias Piero Dohm’s work invites the audience to explore new aesthetic realms.
RAUM · ZEIT is the result of a multi-year artistic research process shaped across Cologne, the Ruhr region, Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Southern Germany, Italy, France, Finland, and most recently Senegal – a translocal evolution shaped by residencies, dialogue, and ongoing artistic inquiry, with further collaborations planned.
In this performance and walk-in installation, bodies, objects, and materials deconstruct classical circus and dance forms. At the center are sand-filled spheres and kinetic apparatuses: they float, roll, trace movements, leave marks, and create ephemeral landscapes.
The core material is sand – both as a fleeting substance and a finite resource. It stores time, makes transformation visible, and becomes a metaphor for impermanence, memory, and change.
Accompanied by a richly layered soundscape of modular synthesizers, RAUM · ZEIT creates sensual-poetic spaces of experience. The work allows the audience to encounter site-specific short pieces, immerse themselves in a full-length stage world, or move freely through the live-installation – to pause, perceive, and experience the space as an open dialogue between body, object, material, and sound. An invitation to momentarily escape the urgency of everyday life.
Versions & Formats
Live-Installation (in creation)
1.5h – 8 h · walk-in · all ages
Stage Version
55 minutes · non-verbal · 4+
Shortcuts
10–25 minutes · all ages
Artistic dossiers on request
GENERAL INFORMATION 15min – 8h · non-verbal · all ages · walk-in · relaxed · immersive
SUITABLE FOR Theatres · Circus & dance venues · Museums & galleries · Contemporary art spaces · Performance platforms · Biennales & interdisciplinary contexts · Site-specific and architectural spaces · Industrial halls & factories · Public & outdoor spaces · Shop windows · Short, experimental & durational formats
TEAM Artistic direction, concept, choreography & performance: Tobias Piero Dohm Sound design & live music: Fabian Laute Lighting design: Fabian Bleisch Artistic collaboration: Andrea Salustri, Martin Stiefermann Stage design: Tobias Piero Coaching & press: Heike Diehm, K3berlin Production: Tobias Piero, Ehrliche Arbeit/Freies Kulturbüro Objects: Tobias Piero, MS Schrittmacher Technical Advice: Andreas Schwalbe, Fabian Buntrock
SPECIAL THANKS Matteo Blau (Videography), Inga Groß & Anatole Serexhe (Photography), Lina Gómez (Residency support & costume advice), Cristiana Casadio & Ana Jordão (choreographical exchange), Katakomben Kollektiv (rehearsal space & workshop), Stefan Sing, Bow Delquie, Marie Stremmel, Konstantin Klabunde, Julia Wellmann, Alex Lemperter, Markus Oppenländer
Funding and Collaborations FUNDED by the General Project Funding of the Landesbüro NRW Freie Darstellende Künste e.V., funded by the Ministry of Culture and Science, Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion
CO-PRODUCED by Tollhaus Freier Kulturverein e.V., Karlsruhe, and Flottmann-Hallen, Herne.
SUPPORTED through residencies at Chamaeleon Berlin, schloss bröllin e.V., C.I.A.M., Le Chateau de Monthelon, DOCK ART, Katakomben - Center For Performing Arts, Maschinenhaus Essen and the FIN-GER Partnership Residency 2024 in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut, Finland Institute Berlin, CIRKO - Centre for New Circus Helsinki, Circus and Dance Info Finland, Bundesverband zeitgenössischer Zirkus e.V.