Homo Kemoni Project

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"con_ACT" (2026)

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What can the body perceive that the analytical mind cannot fully articulate? How do bodies remember? What happens when repressed experiences become conscious? How are experiences embodied? What shifts when suppressed material surfaces into awareness?

 

con_ACT is a performative research project investigating embodied memory, altered states and relational presence. Emerging from the artistic-scientific foundation of ConTaKt, the focus shifts from neurobiological inquiry toward the lived, interpersonal dimension of embodied experience.

 

While ConTaKt explored measurable states of consciousness, con_ACT turns toward the experiential and relational field: how memory, affect and perception manifest physically — and how they unfold in shared space.

Two performers navigate fragmentary, dreamlike and archetypal states — fear, dissociation, insight, release — making visible processes, that often remain internal. The work does not aim to narrate trauma, but to explore its traces through movement, sound, language and interaction.

Drawing from Butoh, clowning, physical theatre and audiovisual composition, con_ACT develops an open poetic structure in which presence, vulnerability, and subtle shifts of regulation become perceptible.

 

The stage becomes a permeable interface — between bodies, histories and languages; between shadow and light. What emerges is not therapy, but a shared aesthetic inquiry into embodied awareness.

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WORK IN PROGRESS

 

Premiere and performances: November 20, 21, and 22, 2026

Kultur Anker Zentrum Schlingermarkt 

Brünnerstraße 34-38, 1210 Vienna 

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Production of the Homo Kemoni Project​

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Concept, Dramaturgy, Artistic Direction, Text: Miriam Strasser
Languages: English, German, Turkish, Hungarian, Nonverbal, Gestural, Digital-Visual
Creation & Performance: Miriam Strasser, Bea Forizs, Defne Uluer
Composition & Music: Jenna Baumgartner (aka VenusasaBoi)
Technical support: Kunstuni Linz, DEEP SPACE ARS Electronica Center
Outside-Eye: Defne Uluer
Stage- and Light-Design: Andreas Ryba

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"ConTaKt: Consciousness in Relation" (2024)

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How does consciousness emerge? Where does it take place? How many states of awareness exist — and how do they relate to one another?

 

"ConTaKt" is an artistic-scientific performance situated at the intersection of contemporary neuroscience and embodied practice. The work investigates altered states of consciousness and relational dynamics through multilingual narration, digital animation and physical performance.

Developed by performance artist and anthropologist (BSc) Miriam Strasser in collaboration with digital-visual artist Mahdi Bakhshi, the project combines experimental movement with audiovisual media to create a sensory journey through different layers of human awareness. At its core lies the act of connection — with oneself, with others and with the surrounding world.

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Artistic Research

As part of the project, artistic research was conducted in cooperation with the Miguel Hernández University (UMH MediaLab) in Elche, Spain. During this exploratory phase, physiological and neurobiological data were recorded while entering and exiting the so-called “Butoh state.”

Preliminary observations suggested measurable changes in autonomic nervous system activity during the transition into this embodied state. Initial analyses also indicated increased activity in the occipital lobe — the brain region associated with visual processing — potentially reflecting the intense inner imagery characteristic of Butoh practice.

While these findings remain exploratory and require further scientific validation, they informed the artistic development of the performance and established a dialogue between empirical inquiry and embodied knowledge.

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Links to our Research:

@lintec.neuro

@Meta_Punk_Studios​

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​Dramaturgical Concept

The dramaturgical structure was based on multiple models of consciousness drawn from psychological, neuroscientific and cultural perspectives. States such as sleep, dreaming (including lucid dreaming) and music-induced awareness were artistically differentiated and reconfigured.

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The performance unfolded from an inward state of “sleep” into an increasingly interactive stage environment. Gradually, the audience shifted from observers to participants, traversing various modes of perception and relational exchange.

Scientific-philosophical narration accompanied the stage action, alongside visual projections derived from neuroscientific data — including abstract 3D brain visualizations and generative imagery based on EEG recordings from Butoh performance practice by Miriam Strasser recorded and visually translated by MetaPUNK_Studios.

ConTaKt created a performative framework in which empirical research and embodied artistic exploration informed and reflected one another.

 

Production of the Homo Kemoni Project​

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Concept, Dramaturgy, Artistic Direction, Text: Miriam Strasser

Languages: English, German, Spanish, Nonverbal, Gestural, Digital-Visual
Creation & Performance: Miriam Strasser (with support of Manuel Waldgeist)
Digital Creation: Mahdi Bakhshi
Composition & Music: Helena Merenda
Graphic support: Carlos B. Luna
Technical support: Ronald Rigo
Stage Assistance: Will Lopes
Stage & Light Design: Andreas Ryba

 

Scientific Research Cooperation:
University Miguel Hernández (Elche, Spain)
Metapunk Studios (Vorarlberg, Austria)

 

With the support of Goethe Institute, European Union, María Pages Foundation and Choreographic Centre.

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"THAT Feelings..." (2025)

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A micro-ritual of resistance, sensation, and liberation. In this Butoh clown étude, Homo Kemoni enters into a silent confrontation with a constellation of clothes pegs - symbols of pressure, absurdity, fragile beauty, and involuntary reactions.

These objects not only stick to the skin - they arouse emotions, trigger micro-dramas, and bring forms of expression to the surface. The body becomes a stage. Muscles speak.

Every twitch is a gesture of refusal, every grimace a struggle for agency. A study of tension, tenderness, and the comedy of perseverance - where feelings are not acted out, but extracted.

The clothespins are more than just props. They are emotional wounds, traumas, unresolved experiences that become visible on the body.  

The struggle with them becomes a process of catharsis. But catharsis is not a solitary process - we cannot heal alone, we need others. And not every wound disappears. Some remain, and that is part of who we are. That's okay. We can learn to live with them - without suffering. 

 

Concept, Performance & Soundfile: Miriam Strasser

WORK IN PROGRESS

More about this here: LINK

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​“Contaminated Marriage” (2023)

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In this performance Homo Kemoni reacts to the audience as well as to the audiofile “contaminated marriage”, which is talking about sexual violence institutionalized through marriage.

 

The sound file contains original recordings from parliamentary debates in Germany in 1990, in which predominantly male members of parliament voted against the inclusion of rape within marriage in the penal code, as this could not be equated with the rape of a "foreign" woman.

 

Homo Kemoni itself is a genderless being. It reacts in a non-judgmental and playful way to all the statements made in the audio file and takes them up as play impulses, innocently incarnating the different characters described in the file and expressing their beliefs.

 

The audio file questions the statements made in a female voice and finally talks about intimacy and female desire in the end.

 

Production of the Homo Kemoni Project

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Performance: Miriam Strasser

Audiofile: Isabel Winter

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"Contaminated Marriage" has been shown on several experimental and interdisciplinary art-festivals, such as "Butohresque Vienna Butoh Festival" and "Böse Kunst".

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​About Butoh Clown

 

Butoh Clown is a hybrid performance art form that merges the raw, subconscious depth of Butoh with the playful absurdity of clowning - a rare and powerful combination. While both traditions have distinct roots - Butoh in Japan’s post-war avant-garde, and clowning often traced back to the physical comedy of Commedia dell’Arte - this is, of course, a simplification. The history of clowning is far more layered and diverse (a topic I could easily fill an entire lecture with!), but for the sake of this context, we’ll focus on these widely recognized influences - their fusion creates something entirely new: a space where darkness and humor, pain and laughter, the grotesque and the tender coexist.

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Since 2019, I have developed my own Butoh-Clown methodology, a performative research practice that explores the body as a site of memory, affect and transformation. Unlike traditional clowning or Butoh, this approach is not about fixed characters or styles, but about real-time responsiveness - absorbing impulses from the environment and translating them into physical, often surreal expression. It’s a tool for unmasking the unconscious, both for the performer and the audience.

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While Butoh-Clown workshops have emerged in various forms across Europe in recent years, my method is rooted in my interdisciplinary background - blending biological anthropology, physical theater and years of research into liminal states of consciousness. It’s a personal and collective journey, one that invites participants to explore their own edges - between control and surrender, between the ridiculous and the profound.

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The combination of Butoh and clowning creates a performance that can be both humorous and deeply touching. A Butoh clown uses the often ponderous and emotionally charged movements of Butoh, combined with the expressive, often absurd elements of clowning.

This mixture can create a powerful (and sometimes disturbing) performance that challenges the audience to reflect on human existence, suffering and the absurdity of life.

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Butoh-clowns are rare and the art form is not widespread, but when it does occur, it often leaves a lasting impression as it explores the boundaries of physical theater and performance art.​ 

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Experience Butoh Clown

 

If you’re curious to dive into this work, I regularly offer workshops and intensives for artists, performers and anyone interested in physical transformation and absurd expression. 

 

Next workshop: 8th - 10th May 2026

Kultur Anker Zentrum, Brünner Straße 34, 1210 Vienna

– Check here for more Information.