figures is a collaborative durational piece, a performative reflection on different typologies or characters and the energies they transact in society, be it outside or within its norms. These chosen figures exist, but are in equal measure figments of (our) imagination, pyschoanalytical tools, the stuff of mythology. They are: the golden boy, woman with weapon, the doppelganger, and the forgotten. They are enforcers of law, agents of chaos, victim and opressor. They‘re part of a cultural history whose monolithic, solid quality is being called into question. The piece starts from text, becomes film, becomes dance, and ends as spoken word (but it is not a final word):
ACT I
Heinz Peter Knes
Figuren, 2024
Video, color, sound 15:42 min
With Adam Lusena Ash, Emil Benedict, Mihaela Chiriac (voice-over)
The figures are introduced in Heinz Peter Knes‘ filmic collage. An off-screen female voice delivers textual tabelaux which young actors embody.
ACT II
The tableaux are transported into the present moment in a live choreography conceived and performed by the dance company DISTANT CASUALS. In it, the figures are enacted in transformation – morphing into one another, transitioning from vague to concrete, reflecting their ambiguity and complexity before vanishing.
ACT III
Text turned into images turned into movement which turns back into words – Ricardo Domeneck‘s poetic epilogue, spoken by Adam Lusena Ash, spotlights the mythology of the „Golden Boy“, the expectations, the promise, the destruction, and failure. The violence that lives in this narrative. The hidden figures, such as mothers and daughters. How toxic can a promise of glory be?
More info & downloads:
Figures_EN
Figuren_DE
Heinz Peter Knes, lens-based artist, studying photography 1993-99 at FH Dortmund. Since then numerous exhibition and publication on an international scale. Extended practice through writing, curating. www.heinzpeterknes.de
DISTANT CASUALS is an emerging dance company co-founded by Emma Lusena Ash (Germany/Italy/England), Hubert Mielke (Poland/Germany), Lísandra Týra Jóns (Iceland) and Miquel Amengual Gual (Spain) in 2022. Their work explores the intersection of dance, performance art, theatre, and music, utilizing the body as a physical instrument. Movement and body remain at the core of their work which then falls deeper into the synergy of disciplines. DISTANT CASUALS embraces collectivity and hybrid hierarchical roles as a structure for the company and creations. www.distantcasuals.com
Ricardo Domeneck is a contemporary Brazilian poet, essayist and performer. He has published 10 collections of poetry and two collections of prose in Brazil and Portugal. His work has been translated and published in the United States, Germany, Spain, and the Netherlands. He lives and works in Berlin, Germany.
Video editor: Jovan Atanackovic
Photo credits:
1–9: various authors, performance at STATIONS, 23.6.2024;
10–16: Heinz Peter Knes, rehearsals at Ufer Studios;
17–23: Nick Ash, rehearsals at STATIONS;
24–27: STATIONS, rehearsals.
