Creators: CHOREA Theatre
Direction: Tomasz Rodowicz
Script and dramaturgy: Marcin Cecko
Music: Tomasz Krzyżanowski, Marcin Cecko, Kuba Krzewiński, Tomasz Rodowicz
Visuals: Maria Porzyc, Rami Shaya
Stage design: Korbus
Light and sound: Tomasz Krukowski
Costumes: Katarzyna Jasińska, Dominika Krzyżanowska Gorzkiewicz
Cast: Joanna Chmielecka, Małgorzata Lipczyńska, Adrian Bartczak / Michał Jóźwik, Janusz Adam Biedrzycki, Robert Wasiewicz
Special thanks to Aloha From Deer for making costumes for the performance
Special thanks to Laurie Anderson for permission to use the song "Big Science" in the performance
Premiere: 22-24.11.2013, Szwalnia Theatre, Lodz
Strobe light is used in the performance
Duration: 90 minutes
Viewers' age: 16 +
Nowadays the latest technologies and scientific discoveries have created a very uncomfortable and embarrassing situation in the area of the arts and so-called 'humanities', because they enter without permission into the field of questions and problematics reserved exclusively for the "spiritual" and philosophical sphere of human activity. The matters which, until now, were considered as the exclusive domain of philosophers, artists, theologians, ethicists and prophets, are now being penetrated into by physicists, computer scientists, neurosurgeons, neurophysiologists and neurobiologists.
With the help of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), magnetic resonance tomography (MRT), and the latest generations of CT scanners, researchers and scientists are able to stimulate and define, in a very precise way, the areas of the brain which are responsible for the creativity of the human mind and soul. They can register, manipulate and play with human consciousness and memory. Recently, they even created an artificial brain, giving it a graceful name: "The Organoid".
On the other hand, we are losing all points of reference, in this fluid postmodern void in which we live. Surrounded by a vague, misty state in which all values are relative, with our hands full of the latest gadgets and wonders of technology, we are starting to feel a strong need of building an objective order and finding some constant, solid qualities.
In such a reality, the brain becomes a new oracle, a real hope, and the greatest fetish of the twenty-first century. We're not talking about mind, soul, consciousness or the “Self” - here the definitions are fluid, ambiguous and can be questioned easily. Objectively, the brain is just a one-and-a-half-kilo jelly-like object, which used to be the biggest mystery of mankind (not only from the perspective of evolution, but also that of functionality, creativity, unpredictability and insanity). Finally, we are able to explore this mystery. We can manipulate it, and convert it into a cult object. The brain is a creator of everything in the universe which is not a pure product of nature. (Besides, the brain as a product of nature, is already manipulating nature!) We believe that by deciphering the brain's access codes we can discover absolute truth - unquestionable, measurable, easy to verify, and easy to experiment on.
In our performance, we are asking about the position of the human factor in this situation. Are we able to reduce all the emotions, inter-human relations, and various states of mind and soul into neuronal schemes of electrochemical impulses?
A group of researchers is now finalizing the last stage of a complex project, in which they are exposing their bodies and minds to extreme experimentation. In this final stage of exploration, they are trying to define their own personal perspectives and points of reference, showing the opposition (and helplessness) of the human aspect set against the arrogant ruthlessness of science and bio-techno-ideologies.
Tomasz Rodowicz
The project was funded by the City of Lodz Office.
The project was funded by the Polish National Center for Culture through the program of Polish National Centre for Culture “Culture - Interventions”.
Watch the photos by Rami Shaya
Watch the photos by Rami Shaya
Watch the trailer by Rami Shaya
