Springville

Half human, half object

In Springville we witness the constant metamorphosis of a small world. Characters, half human, half object, attempt to function with and in the proximity of one another. They play a moving game of chaos, expectation and surprise. They gradually lose their familiar nature and the surroundings change into a silent landscape that grows wild and unfolds into eternity. Springville is a performance where the image prevails. Scenography, costumes, props and characters are closely interwoven and merge together.

Miet Warlop: ‘Mixing up the static in such a way that it generates life or movement is something that often recurs in my work. ‘Reanimating’ inanimate objects with a sigh or attempting to educate a chair. Stubbornly seeking a new situation or function for objects that have become so familiar that their possibilities appear exhausted. Jumbling up their mutually predetermined relationships in the way a natural disaster can.
     You can recognize this in certain photos of suburbs that have been struck by a passing tornado. The destruction breathes new life into all the objects. A new logic dominates the surroundings. The relationships between the objects have changed. Chairs that once stood in the garden are now on the roof; a tree emerges through a window rather than from the ground; or a car that stands upright against a wall. Images like this have a simple yet unearthly beauty.
     In my view, Springville is associated with slapstick, Buster Keaton for example. The playing with proportions, the clumsiness, the impractical and impossible stunts appeal particularly to my imagination. I enjoy the sly wink, the physical and reflexive reactions. And especially the hidden fun in failure. As soon as something has found a place in Springville it is turned upside down or upset. The story not only updates itself while you watch, there is also a constant transformation of reality.’

Video programme

- Proposition 3: Play the Life (20’)
- the making of Proposition 2: Reconstruction (20’)
- Sportband (40’)
- Striptease (45’)