I'm quite fond of talking to strangers. My favourite place to do so is in transit, waiting for a train, bus or plane.  It is easy to start with a meaningful glance in a hilarious moment or to comment on an ostentatious piece of clothing.  Even though this might turn into a fully fledged conversation, upon first fleeting meeting there are topics that almost never hit the agenda.  Love, death and sex, far beyond the reach of most random chats, are on the menu when we are invited to talk with strangers at Strange Passions. 

Strange Passions is a new work by Triage Live Art Collective, a group who experiment with and research intimacy, anonymity and the relationships between strangers.  Taking place at the WAU and Kunstfabrik, the idea is for participants to select a mask, to sit at a table opposite a stranger and to talk candidly on subjects, facilitated by the Triage waitstaff. The work brings strangers together in a way that creates dialogue: inspiring, exciting, unexpected and in a safe environment.   The conversations are unrecorded, private moments. 

Strange Passions is presented by Exchange Radical Moments! Live Art Festival.   For the 11/11/11 artists from all over the world have been invited to present works "ready to engage extraordinary moments of exchange."  The festival will take place simultaneously in in Berlin, Bitola, Chisinau, Linz, Liverpool, London, Paris, Prague, Riga, Slubfurt and Stockholm. 

To be a part of Strange Passions in English or German we thoroughly suggest you reserve yourself a seat.  With a menu of love, death and sex it is sure to be booked out early.
 
Strange Passions
Friday 11th November (11.11.11)
Session times between 11:00 – 22:00
Kunstfabrik am Flutgraben and Wirtshaus am Ufer – WAU, up to 40 minutes/session

For more information about Triage Live Art Collective: www.triageliveartcollective.com
Exchange Radical Moments! Live Art Festival: 11moments.org

Photography courtesy of Jackson Castiglione