Earth

EARTH is a show that only exists in the moment that it is created with the audience. A group of four participants enters an empty universe and causes a big bang. The universe is accessed through Virtual Reality glasses. Participants then visit each other’s subconscious through drawing, fantasising and free associating. Analogue elements, such as chalk and clay, are used to create a unique world. The performance offers a peaceful space in a stressful world: the chance to stop for a moment and feel a sense of wonder.  

 EARTH is one of five in a series called Table Dialogues: the artists Robbert & Frank Frank & Robbert will create five participatory experiences in the course of five years. The key idea here is “immersiveness”, that is, to be submerged in something. The term is primarily used in the context of new, experiential technologies (VR, AR, etc.). Table Dialogues embraces the new technologies and combines them with the ancient Chinese teachings of WuXing – the five elements that make up the cosmos. Each element is linked to a technology to make a performance: FIRE is a group experience around a symbolic campfire and uses immersive audio; WATER works with the power of physical movement using Augmented Reality; and EARTH is a performance in which participants create a cosmos together using black clay and Virtual Reality. WOOD and METAL are currently under development.  

Theme Faith

Table Dialogues aims to connect people, to generate a sense of wonder and participation and thereby to fill a social void. As religion vanishes from our daily lives and we navigate the whirlwind of modern society, many of us are suffering from a crisis of meaning. Who are we? What are we doing? Why are we doing it and in relation to whom or what? The dialogue, so vital to society, seems to be in deadlock. Talking to each other can no longer be taken for granted. If you want to discuss your problems, for example, you do that with a psychologist and if it’s about a relationship, then you see a relationship therapist. If you need to vent, then go to a café. The dialogue is divided into boxes. Each of the boxes has a profession, a specific venue, a framework and renumeration attached to it. Table Dialogues is an attempt to retrieve the dialogue from this “professional context”. It is designed to be a sanctuary where personal stories and memories are shared and integrated into an artistic experience.  Table Dialogues was inspired by ancient tea rituals, tarot sessions, confessionals and so on. EARTH drew inspiration from “Manuscript 008“, a 13th-century miniature illumination depicting a dialogue between the Devil and God. EARTH is a beautiful analogy of, and response to, the duality of the world.