Slowing down the process of disappearance
A lab on documentation with Philipp Gehmacher and Alexander Schellow
In the framework of the project walk+talk, organised by choreographer Philipp Gehmacher and visual artist Alexander Schellow at the Kaaistudio's in Brussels (March 15-19, 2011), Sarma and the department of theatre studies of Antwerp University set up a lab around documentation. Its motto was: 'Slowing down the moment of disappearance and extending its traces in space'.
About the role of space as a document in walk+talk, Schellow writes: "one could say that a certain in itself almost invisible architecture, or better: landscape of interventions in space unfolds slowly in relation to the very singular (conscious or unconscious) interaction of each performer with this landscape. This, one could say, is or realizes in itself actually a 'document': the space as it transforms in time. Unstable, but enclosing certain moments of its usage/misusage/un-usage in the approaches of the different performers and in relation to its models/representations in the perception of each viewer." His interest in a creating a changing scenography is to regard the documentation as an extension of the walk+talk performances.
For participants, visitors and spectators this space created a particular context throughout the whole week: "So it is about - in the clear consciousness of its instability - to extend the traces of those inscriptions, that are performed in the walk+talk-series by the performers and the viewers/listeners. To create a space where through the practice of reflecting (as itself and materialized in an accumulating archive over the week) the memory and perception of a visitor accessing the archive will be able to link to certain different systems of imagination and representation." The creation of a "toolbox" for documentation was central in the lab.
Guest speakers: Philipp Gehmacher, Alexander Schellow, Timmy De Laet, Rémy Héritier, Virginie Bobin
Lab participants: Ursa Adamic, Julien Bruneau, Charlotte De Somviele, Lieve Dierckx, Beatrice Henckaerts, Jeroen Peeters, Els Silvrants-Barclay, Theresa Unger, Diede Vanvelk.
With the support of Kaaitheater and Manama Theaterwetenschappen (Antwerp University)
On the occasion of walk+talk, Sarma also compiled the Anthology walk+talk.