“This 3-step guide will give you hands-on instructions for dying. No prior training or experience is required. We have created a simple step-by-step guide that is meant to give you a glimpse into the process of dying. Learn how you can prepare yourself, discover what to expect and get some tips on how to make your experience a personal and unique one. Ready to get started?”

The capitalist and colonial desire for eternal growth, endless exploitation and unchecked expansion has brought us to this point of climate crisis and human disconnectedness. We have lost touch with the natural cycle of growth, which actually includes decay and death. Today, dying is often seen as a form of failure, and as a society, we have developed a collective fear of dying and try our best to avoid facing it. As a result, we have lost the vital skill of listening to the natural rhythm around us, which in turn makes us lose connection to our environment and our humanity. 

Created during the 2nd lockdown in the midst of the 3rd wave of Covid pandemic in Germany, the work invites us to contemplate our own deaths. It is inspired by the Buddhist death meditation practice. Instead of approaching death with fear and denial, “Instructions for dying” gently guides us to step into it and be embraced by it. Sometimes, it is through accepting our own death, that we get a glimpse of how closely interconnected we are to each other as humans, as well as to all non-humans and the natural world. My hope is that this experience can awake in us a deeper vision for an ecological future and provide a strong grounding for our actions to face the challenges of the current climate crisis.

Video

The dance video was commissioned and produced for ‘Tanz vom Tod’, a film project by Saskia Oidtmann.
Premiere: 15th September 2020 (online)

Artistic team
Concept and  performance :     Ming Poon
Curation und Producer       :     Saskia Oidtmann
Video                                  :     Nora Wetzel
Sound                                 :     Simon Bauer