Forever & Today, Inc. presents A Soldier’s Lust, a newly commissioned performance by Swiss artist Katia Bassanini as part of the Performa 09 Biennial’s The Lust Weekend. Bassanini performs as the lusty “Madame D” in A Soldier’s Lust.

Inspired by the Latin myth of the goddess Diana, A Soldier’s Lust pays homage to the historic Futurist artist and performer, Valentine de Saint-Point, to whose infamous “Manifesto of Lust” the performance is dedicated. De Saint-Point, like Diana – goddess of hunting, protector of women, and custodian over all sources of water and rivers – was enigmatic and acted in ways that served to dispense sovereignty and reinforce free will.

A Soldier’s Lust, like much of Bassanini’s video and performance work, explores contemporary life through absurdist role-playing and slapstick comedy. Formulating a “recipe,” the artist creates performance parameters with ingredients including a clawfoot bathtub filled with candy, a mist machine, a color wheel, artificial plants, and rumbling engine sounds. In movements inspired by abstract dance, “Madame D” – literally a lady of leisure – enjoys various domestic tasks in a slow and relaxed manner. She bathes, sings in the shower, organizes the room, and waters plants among the mist and colors that surround her in a therapeutic ambience.

Meanwhile, she entertains her guests with tales of her heroic adventures, encouraging them to indulge in their lustful desire for “taking their time” and “going along at their own pace,” something quite rare in New York City. The resulting situation makes for circumstances that are both familiar and ambiguous, as the audience is invited to become involved, thus more conscious of themselves and their surroundings.

A Soldier’s Lust is generously supported by Stiftung Erna und Curt Burgauer, Zürich.