Performance Art Workshop: Distorted Horizon - PAS #76

DISTORTED HORIZON

A 7-day learning program on performance art in urban spaces in collaboration with KTO teatr, Kraków, Poland with a public presentation day at old market square in Kraków. Led by BBB Johannes Deimling.

If we are lost in a city, we take our phone and check our location, type the place where we want to end up and just follow the proposed instructions. To reach our destination is often more important than the way itself, so we stick to the lines on the map and navigate through the city labyrinth. And we can assume that we are not the only ones walking in this way. Others might not need these maps anymore, because they know their ways and even shortcuts. And a cat moves very individually through the city like humans would probably not do.

A horizon is often described romantically as something wide and open, something far away and something unreachable. But even in the city we have horizons, and they change by each turn we take and every step we go further. It is often close and shifts due to the movement inside the city architecture. The city horizon seems to be reachable, and we know that another horizon opens up the closer we approach it.

When we walk down the street, the lived reality deviates from what we can see on our screen or on the city map. While we roam around in the city, we leave traces of our presence behind and discover with each step the space in front of us. A particular atmosphere is created by the rhythms of the steps, the crossings, the stops, the detours, the gatherings. A sound texture made of snippets of conversations and horns, a hole in the sidewalk or a puddle to go around, a prohibition sign or an attractive shop window come to inform our experience of the city. They distort our horizons. In the distortion is the experience of the city and it’s personal and collective appropriation.

Distortion is the alteration of the original shape of something, such as an object or a situation. In the art world, a distortion is any change made by an artist to the size, shape, or visual character of a form to express an idea, convey a feeling or enhance visual impact.

In PAS #76 | “Distorted Horizon”, we will explore the city from an angle that is between specific locations: what is happening in transit, on our way and how we can use these observations to create performance art works that are focusing on the personal horizons of the people and their transition movements. We try to capture the energy that runs through the streets and reveal a surprising, captivating, and rich dialogue with the urbanity.

Based on this research we will present our final performance in the heart of the city Krakow: On the old market square where all these aspects are condensed in one place. The performances will question how we can we contribute with a distortion to attract attention and how to establish an artistic dialogue.

Schedule:
5 July 2022: official start 10:00 at KTO teatr (Jana Zamoyskiego 50, 30-523 Kraków)
5 – 10 July 2022: practical studies and research in the city of Kraków
10 July 2022: final presentation (throughout the whole day at old market square in Kraków)
11 July 2022: reflection, brunch and closing day, departure (15:00)