THE PERFORMANCES

 

CALIGULA 2022
This project is based on a text written as a comment to the present war in Ukraine. It will be a video with a close-up image of a young man reading the text in the darkness. His face is lit only by the cold light of his computer.

They embrace and kiss passionately while the guards whip the audience to the stage. Caligula caresses her hair and her face and then his hands descend to her neck. He holds his hands around her throat. Caesonia holds on to Caligula’s hands. It is hard to see if Caligula strangles her or if it is just a sign of affection. Caesonia moans. Caligula is breathing heavily. He removes his head from her a little to watch her red face. Then he kisses her passionately while releasing his hands’ grip around her throat…  Where does this respect for the cruel, for the evil come from, from God? No. There is no god. There has never been one. Our human history and our present are the best proofs. So, it is fear then, fear of death, fear of pain, so simple. In a situation of fear of danger our body produce a chemical substance called adrenaline. This substance gives two conflicting orders to our body functions. Freeze or run. It is a logical consequence of evolution. To survive if you are attacked by a larger animal there are only two options: Freeze and hide or run away. And when you stand there in the cold Ukrainian moonlight with a 9-mm «Gurza» pistol pointed at you, there is only freeze left as an option. It is so simple. Unfortunately, it is that simple. Putin looks directly in the camera and says: Yes, fortunately for Mother Russia, it is that simple.

ROMEO AND JULIET
Videos of darkness based on the tragedy of “Romeo and Juliet”. In different art-videos W&A transform elements from Rolf Alme’s visual-based “Romeo and Juliet” theatre performances in Norway and Denmark to works of visual art. The videos explore different artistic strategies to merge theatre art and visual art. How can live-art like theatre be an artistic starting point to create visual art? Can there be an exchange in the creation process?

JULIET: Only your name is my enemy. Oh, be another name!
ROMEO: My name is a prison. It is a cage where I am captured.
JULIET: Abandon your name. Erase it from the paper where it was written. Burn the paper. Eat the ashes.
ROMEO: In the nameless emptiness. You salute me in freedom. With your regard. Your eyes. Your smile. Your lips against mine.