EN    DE

Judy in the Sky

Fri, 2 and Sat, 3 May 2025

„Cel­e­brate in the name of Judy who loved to cel­e­brate peo­ple, dead and alive!“

Aux Gazelles, Rahl­gasse 5, 1060 Vienna

One week­end, 3 events

MEmorial — Farewell ceremony

Art for ME — Exhibition and performances

Metamorphosis — Party and celebration of life

Take part in the event!

Let’s com­mem­o­rate our beloved friend Judith Schoßböck in this cel­e­bra­tion of her life and lega­cy. Judith died self-deter­mined on 10 Decem­ber 2024 with ME/CFS and severe con­comi­tant ill­ness­es. Her life as an uncom­pro­mis­ing artist, activist, sci­en­tist and so much more will remain an inspi­ra­tion for us. We’ll gath­er to let her light shine!

Friends, loved ones, Black Ferk Stu­dio and the Aus­tri­an Burn­ers are organ­is­ing the two-day cel­e­bra­tion in line with Judith’s wish­es and plans.

Thank you to the Aus­tri­an Burn­ers Kun­st- und Kul­turvere­in and Chris­tine Ruck­endor­fer (Aux Gazelles) for their gen­er­ous sup­port, with­out which that event couldn’t take place in this form.

One week­end, 3 events:
The cel­e­bra­tions con­sist of three indi­vid­ual parts, which will take us, in terms of con­tent and emo­tion, from shared grief to expres­sion through art and the cel­e­bra­tion of life. In addi­tion to on-site par­tic­i­pa­tion, there are also online par­tic­i­pa­tion options.

⇒REGISTER FOR THE MEMORIAL

⇒TICKETS FOR METAMORPHOSIS

Fundrais­ing:
The event is a fundrais­er for research and ini­tia­tives for ME/CFS (WE&ME Foun­da­tion and Aus­tri­an Soci­ety for ME/CFS).

Fri, 2 May — 18:00 — 24:00

MEmorial

Farewell and mourn­ing cer­e­mo­ny for friends

“How hap­py am I to have some­thing in my life that makes say­ing good­bye so hard.” (A.A. Milne, “Win­nie-the-Pooh”)

Togeth­er we say our good­byes to Judith Schoßböck with rit­u­als of mourn­ing and remem­brance. The themes of death, vul­ner­a­bil­i­ty and pain will take cen­tre stage. Bring memen­tos for Judith’s altar and immerse your­self in your grief. Leave Judith a final mes­sage in the ‘Burn­ing Ferk’ piglet urn, where the let­ters will be burnt after the event. Con­nect with Judith on a breath­ing med­i­ta­tion jour­ney, join the Cult of Judith, expe­ri­ence a spe­cial bed­side per­for­mance and enjoy art that she saw dai­ly from her bed.

Get involved: Make what you miss about Judy in the world vis­i­ble and tan­gi­ble through a work­shop, a rit­u­al, a speech (live, record­ed or broad­cast live), a song or a poem — get involved in your own way and become part of this col­lec­tive expe­ri­ence of grief.

Ori­en­tal feast:
As part of the evening you are invit­ed to take part in the ori­en­tal feast (price per per­son: €40, pay­ment on site), reg­is­tra­tion required (see below).

Dress­code:
Let your grief and appre­ci­a­tion for Judith be expressed in your cloth­ing. Not sure what colour to wear? — How about the colour blue? It sym­bol­is­es mourn­ing in con­nec­tion with the death of a per­son suf­fer­ing from ME/CFS.

Free entry:
Par­tic­i­pa­tion in the memo­r­i­al is free of charge and is open to all friends of Judith to give them space to say good­bye and express their grief. Reg­is­tra­tion is required to attend. Ori­en­tal feast: €40 p.p.

Online par­tic­i­pa­tion:
In addi­tion to on-site par­tic­i­pa­tion, there is also the option of online par­tic­i­pa­tion in the memo­r­i­al. Please also reg­is­ter using the form.

⇒REGISTER FOR THE MEMORIAL

Qui­et zone & pas­sen­ger trans­port: There will be a qui­et zone on site (a dark­ened room with the pos­si­bil­i­ty to lie down), which can be used by chron­i­cal­ly ill peo­ple or peo­ple with oth­er restric­tions. We are work­ing on enabling a pas­sen­ger trans­port with­in Vien­na to and from the event loca­tion for disabled/chronically ill per­sons. If you have any ques­tions, please con­tact our inclu­sion team: metamorphosis@burners.at.

Note on pho­to and film record­ings: The event will be doc­u­ment­ed on film and pho­to­graph­i­cal­ly to enable the inclu­sion of peo­ple who are unable to attend in per­son. It will be pos­si­ble to stay in areas where filming/photography is not possible.

Sat, 3 May — 12:00 — 18:00

Art for ME

Exhi­bi­tion and performances

Judith Schoßböck: Some­thing is swim­ming along

“The world is our oys­ter in our fan­ta­sy.” (Judith Schoßböck)

Judith has cam­paigned from her bed­side for more research and bet­ter care for peo­ple with chron­ic ill­ness­es and has set major mile­stones in aware­ness rais­ing for ME/CFS and con­comi­tant ill­ness­es. “Art for ME” puts Judith’s art and that of peo­ple con­nect­ed to her, some of whom are chron­i­cal­ly ill them­selves, cen­tre stage and thus becomes an inclu­sive plat­form for those who, as #mil­lion­s­miss­ing, have hard­ly any oppor­tu­ni­ties to par­tic­i­pate in social life. Judith com­pared her exis­tence to the feel­ing of being an astro­naut invol­un­tar­i­ly wear­ing a space­suit that shield­ed her from the out­side world. Nev­er­the­less, she felt deeply con­nect­ed to the peo­ple in her life and to the out­side world. At ‘Art for ME’, videos, pic­tures, objects and per­for­ma­tive art will address stages of Judith’s life as well as the real­i­ty of an every­day life char­ac­terised by a seri­ous chron­ic ill­ness. The event also serves to raise funds for the WE&ME Foun­da­tion and the Aus­tri­an Soci­ety for ME/CFS.

With works by:
Judith Schoßböck and Matthias Moll­ner (Black Ferk Stu­dio)
Hazel Hugh­es
Judith de Gavarel­li
clumsy­colours
Andrea Vanek
Jana Win­ter
Ernst Mies­gang
Nea Insom­nia
Tra­cy Chen
Noa Ruscheweyh-Stern­berg
Michaela Joch
Nikoli­na Žunec
Moth­meis­ter
Justin and Annie Stegg Ger­ard
Kat­ri­na Per­a­no
Sal­ly McHugh
Mab Graves
and more

Clothes Bazaar
 Wan­der through Judy’s one-of-a-kind wardrobe and uncov­er trea­sures wait­ing for their next adven­ture! From glit­ter to goth, there’s some­thing mag­i­cal for everyone.

Matthias Moll­ner: The Oth­er Life

Pro­tec­tion zone, qui­et room & per­son­al trans­port:
Between 12 noon and 4 pm, part of the event (sep­a­rate area on the 1st floor) may only be entered wear­ing a mask to allow at-risk groups to par­tic­i­pate with­out addi­tion­al health risks.
There will be a qui­et zone on site (a dark­ened room with the pos­si­bil­i­ty to lie down), which can be used by chron­i­cal­ly ill peo­ple or peo­ple with oth­er restric­tions. We are work­ing on enabling a pas­sen­ger trans­port with­in Vien­na for disabled/chronically ill per­sons to and from the event loca­tion. If you have any ques­tions, please con­tact our inclu­sion team: metamorphosis@burners.at.

Free admis­sion, pub­lic event.

Ori­en­tal brunch:
Dur­ing the event there will be the oppor­tu­ni­ty to enjoy an ori­en­tal brunch (€28 p.p., 11am — 4 pm), please reg­is­ter at office@auxgazelles.at.

Online par­tic­i­pa­tion:
In addi­tion to on-site par­tic­i­pa­tion, there is also the option of online par­tic­i­pa­tion via streaming/zoom (15:00 — 18:00). The online tick­et for MEta­mor­pho­sis on Sat­ur­day evening (see below) is also valid as an online tick­et for ‘Art for ME’.

Photo/film pol­i­cy:
The event will be doc­u­ment­ed to enable the inclu­sion of peo­ple who can­not attend in person.

Press infor­ma­tion:
We are look­ing for­ward to the par­tic­i­pa­tion of media rep­re­sen­ta­tives in ‘Art for ME’. In order to ensure a smooth process, please reg­is­ter at irene.schanda@posteo.de.

Judith Schoßböck and Hazel Hugh­es: Sketchbook

Sat, 3 May — 8:00 pm — 4:00 am

MEtamorphosis

A Burn­ing Man Cel­e­bra­tion and ME/CFS Fundraiser

Ernst Mies­gang: Pho­to collage

“All good things are wild and free.” (Hen­ry David Thoreau)

Like but­ter­flies emerg­ing from chrysalides, we invite you to join us for a night of Meta­mor­pho­sis – a Burn­ing Man style cel­e­bra­tion hon­or­ing our beloved JudyintheSky, who died as a result of ME/CFS and con­comi­tant ill­ness­es and whose spir­it con­tin­ues to trans­form and inspire us all.

We have each weath­ered our own storms of grief, ill­ness, and sep­a­ra­tion. These pro­found expe­ri­ences have cracked us open, cre­at­ing space for some­thing new to bloom. Now is the time to cel­e­brate the extra­or­di­nary alche­my that allows wings to grow and unfold from the depths of our wounds.

This gath­er­ing embraces the essence of Burn­ing Man in an inti­mate set­ting: a night to (re)connect with our com­mu­ni­ty, hon­or what we’ve lost, and cel­e­brate the ecsta­t­ic joy that awaits on the oth­er side of change. Through art, music, move­ment, and shared pres­ence, we’ll cre­ate a sacred con­tain­er for trans­for­ma­tion and joy­ful release.

Bring your grief, your joy, your wildest self. Come ready to gift, par­tic­i­pate, express, and leave no trace. This is a space where rad­i­cal inclu­sion meets the spir­it of imme­di­ate expe­ri­ence – a place to remem­ber that even in our dark­est moments, we are capa­ble of mag­nif­i­cent meta­mor­pho­sis. Let’s gath­er to con­nect and remind each oth­er of the beau­ti­ful poten­tial that exists with­in every ending.

„Cel­e­brate life, enjoy the small and big things … Love as much as you can.“
JudyintheSky (Judith Schoßböck)

We aim to rad­i­cal­ly include every­one, no mat­ter what back­ground or health sta­tus. We wish to cre­ate a space where those blessed with health can cel­e­brate along­side of those with lim­i­ta­tions, restric­tions and dis­abil­i­ties. There will be options to join online and via stream.

This is a Burn­ing Man Decom­pres­sion event fol­low­ing the 10+1 Prin­ci­ples. No spec­ta­tors, only par­tic­i­pants. Bring a gift or be the gift. Express your­self. Expe­ri­ence the imme­di­ate moment. Share in our joint effort of cre­at­ing this safe space of rad­i­cal inclu­sion. Leave no trace.

Pro­gramme:

Live-Music:

  • JoCoAlBe – impro­vised elec­tron­ic ambi­ent jazz
  • Her­rin der Stürme – fem­i­nist folk pirate pop at its finest

Two Dance Floors — DJ Line-Up:

  • L.J. Vio­let – House, Dis­co, Funk, Soul
  • Joule – Melod­ic Tech­no / Down­tem­po / Psytech
  • BONECAT – Techno
  • Gogo – Electronic
  • eManuelle – Melod­ic House + Disco
  • DJ Eraser­head, DJ Neodym & DJ Hal­b­goth – Gothic

Clothes Bazaar & Burn­ing Catwalk:

  • Clothes Bazaar
     Wan­der through Judy’s one-of-a-kind wardrobe and uncov­er trea­sures wait­ing for their next adven­ture! From glit­ter to goth, there’s some­thing mag­i­cal for everyone.
  • Burn­ing Cat­walk Fash­ion Show with Clothes Auc­tion
     Watch Judy’s icon­ic out­fits come to life on the run­way! Bid for your favorite pieces at this one-of-a-kind fash­ion show.

Art & immer­sive experiences:

  • Art Gallery
     Immerse your­self in pho­tos, videos, and art­works by Black Ferk Stu­dio and friends.
  • Mast Cell-Friend­ly Elec­trolyte Cock­tails
     Deli­cious, friend­ly to your sys­tem, and per­fect­ly suit­able for self­ies. Pose with it at our…
  • J‑Style Pho­to Sta­tion
     Get your drink and your shoes in the spot­light! Become part of the inter­ac­tive #jstyle gallery.
  • Roam­ing Plate Spin­ners
     Get dizzy with delight – or ask for a spon­ta­neous plate-spin­ning heal­ing session!
  • Nail Salon
     Get Judy-fied! Paint­ed, stick­ered, glam­i­fied nails await. Enjoy the treat­ment or treat yourself.
  • Bed-Based Clown Expe­ri­ence
     Slip into a clown suit and explore the world from bed. Yes, real­ly. Arrive dressed or trans­form at the clown-up station!

Tick­ets

The event is a fundrais­er, tick­et pur­chas­es will raise funds for the WE&ME Foun­da­tion and the Aus­tri­an Soci­ety for ME/CFS to pro­mote research and aware­ness of ME/CFS.

Tick­et on-site par­tic­i­pa­tion: €10,- plus donation

Tick­et online par­tic­i­pa­tion: €5,- plus donation

A big thank you to the Aus­tri­an Burn­ers Kun­st- und Kul­turvere­in and to Chris­tine Ruck­endor­fer (Aux Gazelles), whose sup­port makes a low basic tick­et price possible.

There is no box office. So make sure you get your tick­et in time!

⇒TICKETS FOR METAMORPHOSIS

On-site par­tic­i­pa­tion & inclu­sion:
The venue is bar­ri­er-free. Due to the expect­ed high num­ber of peo­ple and increased noise lev­el, this event is not suit­able for peo­ple with sen­si­tiv­i­ty to loud­ness and strong sen­so­ry stim­uli. We rec­om­mend online par­tic­i­pa­tion or attend­ing the MEmo­r­i­al on Fri­day or Art for ME on Sat­ur­day afternoon.

Online par­tic­i­pa­tion:
 MEta­mor­pho­sis must also be pos­si­ble from the bed­side! Pur­chas­ing an online tick­et for MEta­mor­pho­sis also enti­tles you to take part in the ‘Art for ME’ art exhi­bi­tion online.

The 10+1 Burn­ing Man Prin­ci­ples:
The 10+1 Burn­ing Man prin­ci­ples form the basis for this event. At the cen­tre of “Judy in the Sky” is above all Rad­i­cal Inclu­sion, as par­tic­i­pa­tion should be made pos­si­ble for as many peo­ple as pos­si­ble, includ­ing the chron­i­cal­ly ill. The oth­er prin­ci­ples include Gift­ing, Decom­mod­i­fi­ca­tion, Rad­i­cal Self-Reliance, Rad­i­cal Self-Expres­sion, Com­mu­nal Effort, Civic Respon­si­bil­i­ty, Leave No Trace, Par­tic­i­pa­tion, Imme­di­a­cy and Con­sent. By par­tic­i­pat­ing in the event, you agree to abide by the prin­ci­ples. More about the prin­ci­ples 

Excep­tions to the Decom­mod­i­fi­ca­tion Prin­ci­ple: Aux Gazelles will be run­ning the restau­rant and bar dur­ing the event, so it is not per­mit­ted to take food and drink away. In addi­tion, this event is a fundrais­er for ME/CFS — the tick­et price is delib­er­ate­ly kept low in order to col­lect as many dona­tions as possible.

Dress­code: Rad­i­cal­ly Self-Expressed YOU!
 Come as your bold­est, bright­est, strangest, or most fab­u­lous self – what­ev­er makes you feel ful­ly alive. Our dress code is open, but here are a few inspi­ra­tions Judy lov­ing­ly imag­ined and would’ve absolute­ly adored — as seen in this reel

  • Clown – chan­nel your inner fool and bring the joy
  • Blue – wear blue to hon­our those we’ve lost to ME/CFS
  • Nurse – show up in style and with care
  • Goth – because dark­ness can be divine
  • Horse­head – unleash your spir­it animal

Foto & video pol­i­cy: MEta­mor­pho­sis will be doc­u­ment­ed on film and pho­to­graph­i­cal­ly to enable peo­ple suf­fer­ing from ME/CFS and oth­ers who are unable to trav­el to par­tic­i­pate virtually. 

Vol­un­teer

Judy in the Sky is organ­ised exclu­sive­ly by vol­un­teers. Join in and con­tribute your unique skills!

Get in touch with us — Here you can find all infor­ma­tion about our com­mu­ni­ca­tion chan­nels Sig­nal and Slack and how to vol­un­teer:
Click to be informed

Data pri­va­cy for the event

Cooperation partners