An old world is dying, and a new one is struggling to be born. To rise from the structures collapsing around us, we must find a new direction and determine this new world’s manifestation. To dream it into being requires a different narrative, a different conception of our heroes and gods, and a different source of inspiration.
Hidden in de body of the earth and the depths of our own psyche, other narratives await, older than the patriarchal worldview that has led to our present impasse. These are the stories of the Great Mother, in all her incarnations, which became a great source of inspiration to Boogaerdt/VanderSchoot. Their exhibition unfolds like a sanctuary, inviting you on an imagined journey into an alternate reality that is simultaneously a spiritual origin and a possible future. It is as if we deliver ourselves from our confines and into a deep yet unforgotten place within our minds.
The exhibition is an unfurling sanctum. At its heart is a sleep temple, where the goddess transmits information about other realities to the incubated lucid dreamers. Scattered around it, you will find spaces that invite you to slow down and dream, guided by virtual voices, in the security of a tent, lazing by a digital campfire, or with your hands in clay.
In this setting, you can also participate in three sleeping ceremonies.
About Boogaerdt/VanderSchoot
From their backgrounds in the anarchist tradition of Dutch Mime, artist duo Suzan Boogaerdt and Bianca van der Schoot developed a cross-disciplinary practice, fostering a synergy between the performing and visual arts. In the twilight zone between the black box and the white cube, they stretch the rules and conventions of both settings to build a grey space.
In this twilight zone, Boogaerdt/VanderSchoot create in-between spaces where the homo digitalis can train its proprioception and receive tools to engage with new worlds. They examine through a gender-conscious lens how virtual realities and dream worlds interface with the human user.
Boogaerdt/VanderSchoot questions who or what controls the human body’s apparatus and how this affects the nature of consciousness and consequently the creation of different realities. The duo explores physicality in all its forms, including masked figures, cyborgs, dolls, avatars and mechanised characters. The sense of alienation this produces, foregrounds the question ‘What makes us human?’ and facilitates a reconnection with the creative power of life itself.
Credits
Traveling without Moving is a co-production between Boogaerdt/VanderSchoot, TENT en Theater Rotterdam. This project is made possible thanks to generous support from the Mondriaan Fund and the Creative Industries Fund NL.
In co-creation with Alexandra van den Akker, Rodrik Biersteker, Florentijn Boddendijk, Anne van Buuren, Renske Ebbers, Mikko Gaestel, Lotte Goos, Lene Grooten, Inez Ishizaki, Remco de Jong, Mala Kline, Theun Mosk, Lena Newton, Martijn Nieuwenburg, Jaap Schledorn, Siemen van der Werf. Met dank aan Marieke van der Ploeg, Onno Poiesz, Klara Alexova, Ibelisse Guardia Ferragutti.
Events with this show
artists
Boogaerdt/VanderSchoot