General
This performance was produced for «Who‘s Afraid of Performance Art?», a performance-art festival held in november 2011 in Geneva. It purposefully uses mechanisms often perceived as unpleasant by an audience. All actions are conducted by the audience. By differents means the performers develop a scenario that oscillates between a catastrophe and a surprise party.
The participants are in a camp like situation, the development of which they control themselves. The twist of the performance, its success or failure, is up to the players, who get chosen by the lot and who define the degree of their participation in a room separated from the performers.
Setting
Performers and audience are situated in two rooms seperated by a curtain: by announcements through loudspeakers, people are called out to the office from the hall. The office functions as a kind of operation center. The performers have no knowledge of what happens in the hall.
Admission – vest numbers 5‘
When entering the hall every spectator receives a vest number. Some random visitors also receive chairs. Public address announcements sound in the hall: «Attention: Ceci est une performance interactive. S‘il vous plaît, n‘éteignez pas vos téléphones portables et ne quittez pas cet espace sans être appelés».
Part 1 – installing the set-up 6‘
When the admission to the hall is almost done the first numbers are called out to the office. The numbers get drawn by lot. The installation of the set-up starts: plinth, boxes, megaphone, cables and spots are positioned according to the directions of the office. Emergency lights are passed on, rescue blankets from the boxes are distributed and a person gives the instruction to lay out the blankets and sit on them.
Part 2 – happening 11‘
The technician turns off the lights in the hall. A person enters the hall with a torch and turns on the projector. A video cast of the performers is shown: they talk about adequate behaviour in disastrous situations. Images of distortion signals, satellite recordings and computer animated models of meteorological phenomenons follow. There is music that gets louder and louder. The spots are turned on. Prosecco is being distributed as aid supplies, a list of survivors circulates as a guest book and a few people start to dance.
End – evacuation 3‘
The music stops and a person turns on the klaxon. An announcement informs the audience: «C‘est une évacuation: Tout le monde quitte l‘espace maintenant!». While the people are leaving the hall images of catatrophic events are projected and disco music sounds. At the exit the performers congratulate each of the participants and hand out badges stating «11/11 – Never Forget».