The German Solution | Granary of Europe

Procedere
I am sitting on a pedestal, a part of the entrance hall of „the pallace“, a former socialistic building in Lviv, which is now used for contemporary art. I braid a wreath from stalks and sew the two different flags (the regular yellow-blue and national black-red)of the Ukraine together.
When the audience arrives, I take a sack of 50 kg of grain and drag it upstairs to the second floor.
On the terrace I distribute empty cups to the people. Than I ask them to help me to fill my body suit with grain. When the amount of the 50 kg is inserted, I start with the help of some people to walk downwards to the pedestal. Here a young lady places the cape around my shoulders, crowns me with the wreath and hands me a pair of scissors.
I cut holes in the suit for the eyes, than for the mouth. People catch the pouring grain with the cups. Popcorn is popping beneath my legs in all directions.
When the grain stops dripping— after having cut many holes in my suit— I walk though the city to the gallery. The crowd follows. In front of the gallery I cut the rest of the suit off my body. Then I take down the “crown”.
I cut off the blue stripe of the cape, than the black and finally I separate the red and the yellow stripes and hand them to the audience.
 
Concept
I construct my own kingdom. I invent a flag, which contains the German, the Ukrainian and even the Spanish flag in one. The wreath, which I have braided for myself is my crown, a symbol for the richness of the local harvest. To show the hard labor of work, I carry the heavy sack. Nobody helps me, because I do art, probably regarded as a senseless action.
On direct demands people support art (in my case). In an atmosphere of intimacy and joy the audience and I are together shaping the fat “grain-woman”. 
She cannot walk alone. She has to be supported by people. Crowned and “caped” she is the new king/queen. And she can offer the goods, which she took before from the country. A lot of grain is lost on her way through the city.
The Ukraine is known as the “Kornspeicher Europas”(granary of Europe). The yellow/blue flag represents the gold of the grain and the blue of the sky of the country. 
Once the Nazis took all the harvest from the country and so did the Soviets. The Ukraine has the best soil for grain, but in nearly no historical period (today Monsanto, for example, is there) they could benefit from the abundance of their country. Still self-appointed, foreign rulers come and make a profit as many Ukrainians still live in poverty.
The appearance of my costume also relates to the pre-Christian god “Swarog”, which was worshipped in the Ukraine and symbolizes power and fire, sun and prosperity. Even a figurine like the “Venus from Willendorf” can be associated with my appearance and stands for the fertility and the sustaining potential of the country.