COKO Happenings: Losing/Steam by (love(rocks))
Duration: 45 minutes
Losing/Steam, rooted in both history and speculative imagination, draws attention to the way sex workers have long been present in the private spheres of powerful men—spaces where political, economic, and colonial decisions are made.
The performance poses the question: what forms of agency emerge in these intimate encounters, and what would it mean to take that agency seriously?
Through a series of suggestive scenes, the performers slip into the skin of surreal and subversive characters: sex workers who care for the historical figure James Watt and slowly poison him through steam baths and delicate grooming practices.
Silent acts of resistance
Domestic gestures, steaming shirts, preparing medicinal vapors, turn into silent acts of resistance.
Steam becomes both material and metaphor: a symbol of the origins of industrial capitalism and a force that cannot be contained, transcends boundaries, and reshapes environments.
The performance alternates between different atmospheres: sultry, creepy, sometimes funny, and sometimes frustrating or seemingly senseless. The movements range from controlled, ballet-like precision to moments of disorientation and intoxication.
About the creators
row is a Berlin-based performance artist working with dance, textiles, video, voice, and landscape. Born and raised in Taos, New Mexico, their dance training is rooted in social dance and includes intensive internships with Minako Seki and with PERA Gau, Anfibia, and Tic Tac. row received a grant from the Andy Warhol Foundation for their collaborative short dance film Split Mica (2026).
Shy is a Belgian dancer, performance artist, and makeup artist based in Berlin. They trained at Motions Berlin and the Tic Tac Art Center in Brussels. In Berlin, they collaborated with Ausland, New Fears Gallery, and Ponderosa, among others. In addition to using dance, text, and voice in their performances, they also give drag workshops and work as pole dance instructors.
