Szerafina Schiesser / Master's Thesis: Play and Object
Silence can be a form of protection, a desire, anger, resistance, exhaustion, hope, or an answer that needs no words. And yet we always say “silence”—always “s-i-l-e-n-c-e”—as if the word itself already captures something that is difficult to put into words.
Image gallery
genid-85fe3aee316849ddbe1804b70bc80f6424796659-b13
Sound installation and collective performance
The installation is a walk-in resonance chamber. At its center lies a hand-felted rug, created over weeks in a collective process. The rug interprets the movements of those present in real time and reacts audibly to them by embedding them in sound. Before visitors enter the space, they wash their feet as a silent ritual of arrival, perception, and transition.
Felted Silence approaches silence not as an absence, but as something sustaining. Something that invisibly supports us, that is not meant to escalate, disintegrate, or remain unheard. The collaborative creation of the rug continues as part of the installation and points to a future of silence that lies in people’s own hands.
Szerafina Schiesser *1991 lives and works in Berlin as a mother, curator, and sound artist, as well as a sound designer for independent theater productions. In 2023, she founded the sound and multimedia artspace “( ( NYT ) )”. In her work, she explores the realm of speech, using various media and sculptural means to chart a path toward grasping “general” understanding. She calls her interactive sound objects and installations “emotion machines.” In her sculptural and curatorial practice, her personal doubts about the communicability of feelings and experiences find particularly strong expression.)
Performance times:
- Sat, July 4, 2026, 12:00 PM / 12:45 PM / 1:30 PM / 2:15 PM / 3:00 PM
- Sun, July 5, 2026, 12:00 PM / 12:45 PM / 1:30 PM / 2:15 PM
- Venue: ( ( NYT ) ) Philippistraße 7, 14059 Berlin
- Duration: approx. 45 minutes
- Performance for groups of 5 people
- Language: German
- Recommended age: 9 and up
Additional information
Dates
July 2026
| Mo | Tu | We | Th | Fr | Sa | Su |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
| ||
6
|
7
|
8
|
9
|
10
|
11
|
12
|
13
|
14
|
15
|
16
|
17
|
18
|
19
|
20
|
21
|
22
|
23
|
24
|
25
|
26
|
27
|
28
|
29
|
30
|
31
|
