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Powersun
by Marlene Haring, 2006

month-long intervention in a solarium in Vienna, 3 CD players with headphones with 3 Audio CDs (invitation by Auto, Vienna)
photomontage, 70 x 50 cm

Marlene Haring writes: 'With a message put in the window of the Auto gallery I directed those who wanted to see my show to the solarium around the corner to take a normal sun bath, which visitors had to pay for like regular costumers. The friendly lady at the counter instructed each visitor to take a CD player to their cabin and listen to the CD while sunbathing.

'There were three different sound pieces: One was hands clapping in a massage style over the whole lying-naked body, another was the sound of intense laughing, broken up by spanking, followed by laughter again, etc., the third one was recorded while I was falling asleep during a sun bath (in a sun bed), so you can hear the sound of another sun bed and the sound of another sunbather breathing, while still hearing your own sunbed and your own breathing: a double.

'The way the audio was recorded you got a spatial sound-image: it could have been your own body that was massaged, spanked, tickled, or which fell asleep.'