Sitting With The Body 24/7

Retreat in public space

Our lives are governed by an economy that never sleeps. What is its impact on our relationship with time, work and our own body? In Sitting with the Body 24/7, a small group of people retreats into a shop window in the city centre for a week. They perform ordinary activities there: sitting, lying, walking, standing, making things, seeing, dancing and speaking. The fixed timetable and the concentration on one activity at a time are the conditions that provide the opportunity for physical introspection. By tracing and acknowledging physical perceptions and intentions, the performers try to give voice to what usually lies hidden in the human body. At the same time, Sitting with the Body 24/7 relates to an urban environment and the possible disruptions it may bring. The passer-by is invited to participate in this paradoxical retreat in public space by watching the actions or by entering the space and carrying them out themselves.

• Heike Langsdorf is a German dance and performance artist based in Brussels. She has worked with Kris Verdonck, Jan Fabre and Alexander Baervoets. She is a member of the C&H collective. Since 2010 she has produced work under the name ‘radical­_hope’. She also teaches at the KASK in Ghent.