Open House Surgery: Performance project by Dafna Maimon

Open House Surgery – a tour through, an open –– a walk through, a building, a… a supposedly simple orientation from room to room. But, as Werner Herzog said about psychoanalysis; the building becomes unliveable when its every corner is illuminated by harsh light, likewise, the building becomes deliciously alive when a body allows itself to really be absorbed by said building –to take over its sensorial faculties, hijack its nervous, limbic, endocrine, fluid, skeletal, and organ– yes, every system. Whose? The bodies’ or the buildings’? This happens every day, to some degree, but to which? Maybe the golden angle – about 137.5°– supposedly also found in the human heart, according to some, but not all, opinions. Or how, according to one man, the infant takes its mother, its lover, its caretaker, all of the above, to be a part of itself. For a moment; a mirror, no boundaries, a shared biology. Architecture is biology, Aalto said. Aalto means wave, one that flooded his homeland with style. But, inside a wall is faced, stripped, licked, and punched. A floor repeatedly pounced; a chair, interrogated… yes, exactly, not the other way around like in Gestalt therapy, or maybe that’s a dialogue, or is it a monologue? Speaking alone to oneself, speaking, small and isolated, speaking, nonetheless, hoping to be heard. 

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Please note that the performance will only be presented three times on October 8. Performance times are: 17:30–18:30 / 18:45–19:45 / 20:00–21:00

Admission to the performance is free, but tickets must be reserved through Tix. Please note that no entry will be permitted after the performance has started, so it is important to arrive on time.

ACCESSIBILITY: If you have any accessibility needs or requests, please let us know by sending an email to kolbrun(at)nordichouse. is. This might include wheelchair access, the possibility of sitting down during the performance, or any other assistance that could make it easier for you to participate comfortably in the event.

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Open House Surgery is a performance project by Dafna Maimon as part of the exhibition Embodying a Building at the Nordic House in Reykjavík. Set in a building designed by Alvar Aalto, the performance transforms an open house tour, normally a presentation of reliable facts about canonical architecture, into an interrogation of human thought and feeling. It shifts from a “rational” introduction to a designed space, toward divulging lived, sensed, mind-body experience in real time. From touching a door handle to existential crises, Open House Surgery un-dissects the body-mind-environment triad into an ever-morphing, unpredictable musical of biological self-reflection. 

Lasting approximately 60 minutes, the performance features the artist alongside long-term collaborators, dancer Leah Katz and singer Jessica Gadani. 

The project builds on a somatic and improvisational method, Authentic Stream of Consciousness Singing (ASOCS) developed by the artist. ASOCS allows performers to vocalize internal sensations, thoughts, and emotions in real time, transforming spontaneous expression into intimate, humorous, and affective vocal landscapes. 

The performance Open House Surgery belongs to an ongoing series of works set within the buildings of Finnish architect Alvar Aalto, engaging his ideas of architecture as living organisms in which body, environment, nature, and psyche form a shared field. For the artist, who grew up in Finland in an immigrant family, Aalto’s buildings also provide a setting for exploring identity, belonging, and what it means to be “inside”.