The Artificial Nature Project

A whirlwind of images

A performance without performers, in which it is bubbles, foam, mist, sound and light that do the ‘acting’. That was Evaporated Landscapes (2009, Burning Ice #2). This was followed by two works in which Mette Ingvartsen fictionalised and choreographed natural phenomena and our perception of them. She now concludes the series with The Artificial Nature Project. In this performance human and non-human performers will appear on stage. What does it mean to make a choreographic work for materials, in which the focus is no longer on human movement? How do you get the power of things and materials to interact with people? How does the force of things and materials act on bodies? What is the relationship between the living and the non-living world?

The result is a performance in which things fly through the air and give rise to a landscape that constantly transforms. Calm and contemplation turn into chaos and energy, a tidal wave becomes a storm of confetti, an abstract sculpture becomes a swarm of animals, things of all shapes and sizes fill the stage, and are set in motion by the dancers who are part of a flowing, flying mass. A whirlwind of images roars past, sometimes with catastrophic effects. A vibrant landscape of dead things coming alive.

"In Evaporated Landscapes, Ingvartsen positions herself between Jérôme Bel’s – failed – attempt to make the theatre machine dance on its own and Heiner Goebbel’s musical performance without musicians. As such, it may be the first truly non-figurative choreography." – Der Standard