Based on a psychological study and the real-life case of the so-called Cannibal of Rotenburg, Roland Rauschmeier, together with performer Alex Bailey, develops a darkly absurd experiment. In Consumption as a cause of coming into being, the artists connect considerations of the Freudian death drive, castration anxiety, and the unconscious with meditative singing sessions. The cruel experience of cannibalism serves not as mere provocation but as a starting point for the search for an alternative, critical paradigm. The piece aims to redirect the libidinal energy of this event into an artistic context and to contribute to feminist discourse. It interrogates the connection between violent fantasies, moral decay, and the promise of drive satisfaction.

German conceptual artist RolandRauschmeier, who works at the intersection of visual and performative arts, and performer Alex Bailey create a performance that engages with the deepest abysses of the human psyche. The case of the cannibal Armin Meiwes, which made global headlines in 2001, becomes the trigger for an artistic investigation. The production is created in cooperation with the Viennese production platform brut, one of the most renowned venues for freelance performing arts in the German-speaking world.

The premiere of Consumption as a cause of coming into being takes place in April 2017 at the brut theater in Vienna. The work proves to be of lasting relevance and is presented again the same year at the significant Impulstanz Festival in the Vienna Schauspielhaus. The performance solidifies the ongoing artistic partnership between Rauschmeier and brut, which is continued in later projects such as Timon (2019) and Assessment (2022–2023). It positions itself as a work that confronts psychoanalytic theories with socially tabooed, real phenomena and transposes them into a stringent performative act.