KW20
Hommage an Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven
Heftig und kurz glänzte Dada-Ikone und avant la lettre Spoken-Word-Pionierin Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven durch ihre exzentrischen Assemblage-Performances. Eine höchst eigenwillige Ausnahmekünstlerin, die Ariana von Graffenried poetisch gewürdigt hat.
Dragking,
du treisch
es Tee-Ei
aus Bling-Bling
um e Haus
u goudigi Rüebli
uf em Gring.
I weiss nümm,
wenn mir üs
ds erschte Mau
begägnet si
and where?
Im Cabaret
Voltaire?
Ou à Paris,
ir e Galerie?
Maybe in Manhattan,
in the DADA-circus?
Schreegs Birdie,
I met you
on purpose,
Elsa Plötz,
us Swinemünde
born in
1874
That year
cha dr Karl May
Zur Person
Foto: © Claudia Herzog
us em Zucht-
huus wider hei.
Gsässe isch är
wäge Land-
striicherei.
1886
Dr King
Ludwig II.
versuuft im
Starnberger See
(Suicide?
Murder?)
You have
green piercing
eyes, es
bleichs Dekolleté.
Bisch zwöufi,
smart u lazy.
You smoke
your first
cigarette
and write
your first
limerick.
Daddy is hot-
tempered,
Mami mad
and sick.
1890
Bisch sixteen
u schön,
öppedie
es Mü
z obszön.
Geisch a d
art-academy.
You cut
your hair,
you wear a
bordeauxrote
underskirt.
Daheim säge si
du sigsch
chli gstört,
en Affront
to every
Oschtseebad!
1893
Uf em
Potsdamer Platz
wird during
dr Gründig
vom Dütsche
Froueverein BDF
di erschti Chatz
überfahre
vom ene KFZ.
By now bisch
nineteen.
You flee,
poor as
poor can be,
i d Revue
uf das Berlin.
You are in
«Ariadne
on the Panther»,
a naked
tableau vivant
im Varieté
Wintergarten.
Winter is cold
in the capital,
and coats
are costly.
1896
Another year
of suffering.
Di het
d Syphilis.
Good old
Europe het
once more
a war.
You change
husbands,
cities
and skills
as I change
mini Jeans,
which means
you are
ready for
big apple,
ready for
big Uftritt.
In Europe
kings are
uf em last
big Usritt.
1913
Manhattan’s
canyons are
your stage.
Wouchechratzer
shrouded in
in smoke.
Smokewouche
chratze
i dr Lunge.
Coke chläbt
uf dr loose Zunge.
Neon signs
on Times Square.
That’s auwäg where
I first met you.
I remember
saying «hello».
You were so
keen on art
and Radou.
I remember
your glamorous
body-show,
ou ou ou.
Elsa, du bisch
öppis between
a machine (non-
Picabian) and a
bohemian bijou.
You walk down
5th Avenue,
as usual muff,
rasiert mit
zinnoberrot-
laggiertem
Schädu.
U obedruff
e bullet-proof
Cholechessu
(Typ: Roman–
Imperator–
style), while
you’re leading
5 frightened
dogs on a leash.
Your lusting lips
deklamiere
Shakespeare
(in German).
Zwo abgstämpleti
stamps ziere
dini Backe
(2 American
cent, pink).
I säge: «Else,
you look like
a Westwood-Punk.»
People call you
«citizen of terror»,
«e Fau für e shrink».
But you just make
Kunscht out of
Trottoir-junk.
Everything lies
in the Rinnstei
for your Recycling-
Assemblage.
Itze,
immer no
1913
Immer no
vor em
grosse Wäut-
läbwohl.
Du bisch
uf em Wäg
zur City Hall,
on your
wedding-day,
arm in arm
mit dim
verarmte,
gambling-
addicted
Westphalian
Prinzgemahl.
Fingsch
an iron ring
on Broadway.
You call it
Enduring
Ornament.
Elsa von
Freytag-
Loringhoven,
you are
the truest
baroness
I know.
Du treisch)
ds «Von» zwüsche
de Bei
u Tomate-
purée-Dösli
on your
nipples.
You made
your first
ready-mades
before
your mate
Duchamp
made one.
Marcel, Marcel,
you loved him
like hell.
1917
D Höu for real
isch am
10. April
es Ziu
vom ene Gschütz,
irgendwo
bi Arras.
People called
Duchamp
«e Payass!»,
when he
a däm day
wanted to show
im grosse
New Yorker
Central Palace
aus R.[Ar]Mutt
e «Fountain».
«Skandal!»,
people said.
Tell me, Elsi,
isch das Urinal
am Änd uf dim
enlightened Mischt
gwachse?
I know, you shit
on sacrosanct art
but baroness,
you need money
gopfertammi
to survive.
Darling, dänk
a dini füechti
Wonig.
1918
Däne ändlech
Fride.
Di Chrieg,
Elsa,
isch blibe.
You act,
you paint,
you sculpt,
you attack.
You write
your poetry
on Zelluloid
oder i dr
«Little Review»
(Achtung,
Avantgarde-
tabloid!).
Am James si
«Ulysses» is
printed näbe
dine Gedicht,
but everyone
just talks
about you,
because your
body-related-
gender-subverting
language isch
not only bilingual
(dütsch-änglischi
mistake-machine),
but funny
and fucking
radikal swinging.
Dini Zile si wi
carved in stone
in a boxi-Bauhaus-
EgYptian-StYlE.
You love
Gedanke – – –
striche
on the right side.
And your shifts
are abghackt,
ruckig like
a subway-ride.
Geng jagsch
dr Schönheit
hingernache.
Ke Futurischtin
but the future,
le dernier cri
but unfortunately
a little jähzornig.
Maybe that’s why
you were not invited
to the Vanity Fair
dinner parties
like Dorli Parker
and Man Ray.
Or maybe, honey,
it’s because
there is no
moneymoneymoney
in what you do.
In the arty
man’s world
they call you
«unersättlech»,
and «e Närvesaagi».
D Wäut wärd
frei, säge si,
as well.
1923
Daheim
first Hitler-Putsch.
D future scho
wider futsch.
Elsa, Ezra
calls you
Kassandra
in one of his
Cantos.
NY drops
and forgets you.
What a waste.
Was that
why you got
homesick,
my brave
and angry
baroness?
Zmitts i de
Goudige Zwänzger
verchoufsch
Christmas magazines
on Ku’damm.
Winter is cold
in the capital,
and coats
are still costly.
You have
no heating and
no pension.
All your humour
and Schwung
schlaat i
Verzwiflig um.
D Avantgarde
güügelet now
à Paris.
You follow
your famous friends
zum letschte Mau.
Were you drunken
with sleep
or did you want to
come to harm,
when you died
im 13ième
with your
Lieblingsdog
im Arm?
2016
Again, a party
at the Cabaret
Voltaire.
100 Jahr
sithär.
Elsa, dis
dusty perfume
lies schwär
on your verses.
You made
no compromise
with the
public taste.
Performance-
pioneer, I love
all your names,
for you taught
me to love
all my blame.
Forimmer
and ewig
DADA-Queen.
Aus: Ariane von Graffenried, Babylon Park, edition spoken script, Der gesunde Menschenversand 2017.
Dieser Beitrag erscheint im Rahmen der feministischen Woche am Deutschen Seminar der Universität Zürich, die vom 13. – 17. Mai im Hinblick auf den Frauen*streik am 14. Juni veranstaltet wird. Anlässlich dieser Woche veröffentlichen wir Beiträge von Autorinnen, die Literatur im Brennpunkt feministischer Perspektiven reflektieren. Detaillierte Informationen zum Programm und zur Aktionswoche: Flyer & Veranstaltungsseite
