漢字

The Non-Present Performer

Casting

LOS

LOS

2018, The Netherlands

In the past two years Karel van Laere has explored the boundaries of surrendering and giving up control. A motionless body fastened for 24 hours in Paralysis, a body slid statically across landscapes in the works Slow and Largo, and brought in a state of hypnosis, entrusted to the hands of dancers, in The Non Present Performer.

Given the slow and continuous nature of Karel’s former works, it was high speed and abrupt changes in direction that became the starting point for realising the project LOS. During the three-hour performance, Van Laere is giving up his will power and surrenders to an external system of control. Four machines move his body through the space, partly pre-programmed, and partly controlled by choreographer Aitana Cordero. The work constitutes a challenge to the artist’s physical stamina, and pushes his body to its limits.

Pictures by: Maurice Mikkers