Erikas Töchter

“ Erikas Töchter” explores perspectives on female* identity formation in Germany through the fictional figure of Erika Mustermann. Since 1987, Erika has served as the standard identity in official documents – white, blonde, blue- or green-eyed. As a smiling anachronism, she continues to haunt Germany’s bureaucratic landscape.

The work translates this fictional identity into a scenario that shifts between garden party, exhibition, performance, and office routine. At its center are two layers: on the one hand, the presentation of the IDOLLs – a series of new female standard identities, presented in the style of a teleshoppingshow, offering an innovative approach to contemporary issues of identity; on the other hand, a glimpse into Erika’s everyday office life. Surrounded by plastic boxwood shrubs, carpeting, and generic office furniture, she remains trapped in the moment of the photograph and the endless reproduction of her own face.

Erika’s eyes look directly at the viewer, the corners of her mouth suggesting a neutral smile. Yet the longer she gazes at you, the more insistent her expression becomes: classifying and excluding. A bodiless, fragmentary voice accompanies the scene, offering insights from within this empty face and raising the question of which faces and narratives disappear from the collective image through her.

July 22–27, 2025, Silberstreifen, Rheinstetten, Karlsruhe

Concept, scenography, and text – Lina Determann & Jette Schwabe

Supervision: Celine Condorelli, Charlotte Eifler

Performance & Exhibition:
Performer Erik Mustermann - Susanne Lisovski; DJ Performance - Kira Fuchs & Kevin Beckmann alias DJ*in Ratzefummel b2b DJ Papierstau; Doorman - Maximilian Zschiesche; Lighting Design - Eloisa Berno Kölln; Sound Installation - Johannes Thimm; Drink design - Jaya Demmer; Graphic design for letters - Tim Bartel; Food design - Laura Haak; Scenography - Lina Determann & Jette Schwabe; Costume design - Lina Determann, Jette Schwabe & Jaya Demmer; Photographic documentation - Nis Petersen & Quirin Thalhammer; Video documentation — Kevin Beckmann & Kira Fuchs

Teleshopping Show:
Host - Lina Agnes Nordhausen; Set Design - Rebecca Barbara Lob, Maximilian Zschiesche & Johanna Merkelbach; Set Design Assistant - Carla Waldmann; Costumes - Jette Schwabe; Makeup - Sarina Rösch, Eduard Frantz; Camera - Kevin Beckmann, Kira Fuchs; Graphic Design - Nicolas Poirot; Lighting - Kevin Beckmann, Eric Wehner & Istvàn Molnàr; Sound - Luise Peschko; 3D Printing - Kira Fuchs; Set Recording Director - Johannes Thimm; Set Photos - Quirin Thalhammer; Nail Design - Julia Stelzer; Editing and Sound Design - Natalie Kinscher