audience (n)

I thought, performing the work would inform us and then we would know if it was a good idea to do it the way we did. But actually, I must say, I am still not completely grasping what was activated, because there is no general opinion, assumption, judgment possible. So many different views. We should open a blog for the audience to be informed about their thoughts. 

100208n

It is a funny question: how did the performance go? Do I care if people liked it or didn’t? No. Not interested in the likes and dislikes. What do I care about? That it produced movement, of thought, a little displacement of something, discussion, maybe friction. That it stays longer than the time spent in the theater. It might have not been entertaining – or was it – but if something continues with your walking out of the theater, then I am satisfied. I have no idea ‘how it went’ because it went into multiple ways for different people, but I have been surprised by the actual performing of a concept and that surprise feels very refreshing. 

rhythm (n)

Making felt the rhythms of those movements and changes. 

feeling (n)

Making felt the subtle movements of potential, and the (collective) changes in those movements over time.  

exposing (n)

Exposing or making visible: the degrees of people’s needs for spectacle. 

09.02.2008 feeldings (pablo)

an israeli woman sits in the bus. she spots someone that looks suspicious and thinks he might be about to blow himself up. she gets stressed, and doesn’t know wether she should get up and do something, wether she should try to tell the bus driver or something like that.

intensities (n)

Even though this piece is physically not very exhausting, compared to other works I have made, I have felt it very intensely in my body, more than ever. Last night I could not sleep and my body was running on speed, felt completely coked up. The entire energy of this field of people openly exposed and accessible to everybody in the room is something that is extremely affective. I think I have had energies of 55 people running through my body every night. Becoming a power station or fuse or something like that. It is very electric. 

negotiating power (n)

Last night’s performance seemed to become such a space for navigating energies and powers. It is indeed a political space. As simple as our walk is, it is enough of an extra activity brought into this space of potential that it can be felt as imposing. On the other hand, nobody was asked to accept it in that way, to sit still on their chairs, to not add what they wish to add. If we add something, do we add it in a sensitive or in a resisting manner. Do we use predictable codes (whistling, clapping) or do we become collectively creative, producing something new and other. If participants feel the difference between potential and passive arrival on chair as audience, isn’t the making-visible of that process exactly enough?

chairfield in retrospect (n)

Isn’t it funny that actually quite a number of people think that nothing else than this chairfield needs to happen. It seems as if for some, any type of additional activity (rhythmic walking) becomes too imposing on the situation, making them turn into passive audiences again. All I can think of right now, I am happy they even become aware of that mechanism. Nobody told them they couldn’t stomp around with us, after all it’s easy enough to do. If anybody feels passive sitting on their chair, they could decide otherwise. Some do, some don’t. Those rhythms through which we negotiate activities, powers, energies…. I find very fascinating. 

being part of it (n)

Yesterday a guy walked out of the performance. Later, after the performance had finished, he came back to sit on stage on the same spot, alone. We then asked him what he had thought about the piece. He told us, walking out, he realized he was still part of it, and sitting in the bar he was still part of it, so he really started to like the work, and he came back since anyway, he wasn’t able to leave. 

coin (n)

Now seriously, a coin was thrown every night by a different person and did show heads every night. ???

hair (nora)

When I woke up this morning and first encountered a mirror, I thought my hair had also been contaminated by polyrhythmic excitement, displacing beat and order towards chaotic mess.

surprises (nora)

I have rarely performed in such an undetermined setting. Only for kids. And that was for sure also a wild thing. But in general, even though the work has been very adjustable and open, we could always a bit predict how it would go. This time I feel myself in the middle of a very “live” field of (yes) potential, very social, exposing, exciting, strange. Yesterday it seemed as if this little proposition of walking, which was now really the most basic action we could think of, was such an imposed act to bring in. In fact I felt that no performance other than what it was from the beginning on was needed. On the other hand, people can relax once something is being done. And walking was never meant as something other than “something to be done”. I really want to perform this piece for children. 

listeningwatching, nora

What worries me most is that some people talk about this piece as an audio experience. But it is important to me that it is not that, rather a crossfade from visual to audio. A constant mix, confusion, battle between the senses. Do we need to be more visible? 

stress (nora)

I guess performing is always a bit stressful. I have the feeling though, walking will be much less stressful than sitting in the chair installation, ha ha. And as long as we think it’s ok to put an audience through certain types of stresses, we should probably also be able to do it to ourselves. Isn’t it very exciting to not know what will happen? And don’t we always, in any case, not know what will happen the next minute, to some degree? 

01.02.2008 (pablo)

well… I just find it a bit stressful not to know… but again, I’m just me. can’t help myself, sorry : )

oh!

That is interesting in itself that you won’t enjoy performing the piece, not knowing which version will be presented until last minute. Why??? It is not leaving it open to chance, it is using chance as an artistic means, it is choice to include chance. 

01.02.2008 (pablo)

I understand the conceptual value of the proposal, and I’m full on for not giving the walking piece too much importance. I think being able to resign that piece (or some of its posibilites for performance) in favour of an overall proposition is already a big an valuable gesture in itself. but at the same time I think I feel that we have invested ourselves too much into thought and discussion to, at this point, leave the decision to chance. I want (us) to take that decision. and I also want to make a decision that its supportive of it being performed (setting the right conditions for the piece to be performed): I won’t enjoy not knowing until the moment of the performance wether we will perform or not.

walking (nora)

An activity, to satisfy our need for activities. Walking together: a relational poly-rhythmic activity.

chair field (nora)

Being together, in relation. 

coin

To make that more clear: I meant tossing a coin as a performative act. It’s adding humor + chance and adds another conceptual layer, which I like. Because after all, shouldn’t place too much importance on this walking thing either. It’s just an activity, to satisfy the need for activity. 

?

I don’t think I understood your post. Why fuck off? It proposes that you will always miss something because there is another performance proposition which will for sure not take place. It opens the door back to uncertainty and that I like. After all, we started from chairs and then decided to also work out some type of performance. We didn’t start saying, let’s make a piece on walking. 

31.01.2008 (pablo)

then I would say ‘Fuck off’, in the hope that it can be taken both seriously and with humour. I don’t think I would find that very satisfying. tot morgen schatjes