Ida

You are free to leave at any moment before the 10 minutes are up and I will close your version of the piece at around 10 minutes. The work is by one artist, Laura González, who will host the ghost of Freud’s most famous patient, Dora, whose real name was Ida Bauer. Ida will speak through Laura and she will tell you the story she told Freud, in the first person. You as the audience, are free to analyse her words, as Freud did, or simply listen. Between you and Ida, in the closed clinical room, there are no rules.

When you enter the room, a chaise longue, like a single bed, is placed at an angle on the far right corner. There is a soft light and a chair at the head of the chaise longue. There is no other furniture the space, which appears to be like a boardroom, or a study room. There are a few high windows on the back wall.

A young woman, wearing a white lace blouse and a long black and red skirt with a wide red belt is sitting on the chaise longue. Her dark hair is up and she appears to be from the 19th century. She is reading a book with a green cover: ‘Fragment of an analysis of a case of hysteria’ by Sigmund Freud, which he named his Dora case.

When you walk to the chaise longue and take your place on the chair (the only place you can sit), she lays down on the chaise, her head towards your right hand side. The crown of her head is near you and you can see from there to her feet as she lies down.

She sets her book down and begins to speak and tell you her story. While she does that, she plays with her reticule, a small, round, fashionable handbag in the 19th century, made of soft materials. This one is black, with embroidered red and green flowers and has a metallic clasp. While she speaks, the young woman opens and closes the metallic clasp, revealing a red satin lining. She likes to open and close the clasp (you will hear the faint sound), put her fingers inside and touch the satin while telling her story.

After your 10 minutes, she will say: ‘That’s all the time we have for today’. She will then sit up again and pick her book to continue reading Dora’s case. At this point, you must leave by the same door you entered.