Bunny Narrative 1 (Virginia / Concept)

 We walk to the train station with the pink costume in a plastic carry-all bag. I am excited because it is my first opportunity to see the costume from the outside. I have a digital camera, a notebook and a novel—for cover. We examine the train schedule and give ourselves five minutes to get Vladimir in costume and board the next train. The moment the bunny appears out of the bag voices scream ’Rosaroter Hase, rosernes Kaninchen' (pink bunny pink bunny). This is the refrain of the evening. Vladimir is immediately mobbed by girls with digital cameras on their mobile phones. He boards the train and sits.

Who would miss a two-meter tall pink bunny rabbit? Not the guys on the train dressed as top-hatted characters from A Clockwork Orange. The rabbit causes a minor stampede to the middle of the car. I am nervous for Vladimir—my research on corporate mascots shows that people are violent with them. This is our first public outing—and we meet the ’Droogs’ within twenty minutes. I wonder whether the train conductor will ask us to leave the train, but after a long wait the doors close and the train pulls out of the station.

The bunny creates hilarity on the train, but since Vladimir doesn't do anything the passengers are flummoxed. A new game begins: when we pull into a station everyone on board waits for the new passengers to discover the bunny—and laughs hysterically. Now they are the experts. The bunny creates a community on the train. Cameras come out. I have no need for cover. Almost no-one notices my equipment—I am among many revellers. Meanwhile, Vladimir sits like an ordinary but very pink and furry passenger.

Bunny Narrative 2 (Vladimir / Co-Performer)    

 I get changed into the Mascot at Ostkreuz, at 2:10 am. We board the ringbahn, a city train that runs counter-clockwise around the downtown core, and which is to carry us in the next hour and a half once around Berlin on the border between the city and its outer districts. I sit down on the last bank of chairs, slightly leaning against the glass to my right. I can't see much, reconstructing the situation mainly by hearing now.

 The crowd is drunk, either post or pre-party. Immediately people respond to my appearance in the train. Loud disbelief.

 Constant photography with mobile phones. Generally friendly but slightly aggressive testosterone and alcohol induced atmosphere. Young guys engage in games of daring with me, to which I only slightly respond. I´m trying not to move too much, only small lifesigns, little communication. This seems to provoke them. They photograph themselves with me, I gently lean on one of the guy's shoulders. The next one dares to sit on my pink lap, and gets this photographed also.

The question arises whether I´m a boy or a girl, I don't respond. Someone suggests pulling the mascot's head off, somebody pulls the mascots ears. At that point I feel "in character" so that everything happens

to me as a hybrid: they are pulling MY

ears. I get the feeling that I´m becoming more dehumanized, a toy. It is suddenly appropriate to touch me, to speak of me in the third person, to violate my private space.