The second decade of the 21st century was marked worldwide by deep upheavals. Some, such as the ‘Occupy’ movement in New York, the manifestations against bus prices in Brazil or the fight to maintain Gezi Park in Istanbul drew worldwide attention, if only because of the fierce government reaction. Each time, the original –straightforward- motive for the upheaval was soon replaced by other, more far reaching concerns, and even claims to completely rethink society as a whole.
If these events made manifest a widespread feeling of discomfort about the current socio-political order, the answers often diverged widely. An outspoken ideology was hardly at hand. It was as if the event in itself was an alternative model for society: social technology as an open cybernetic process in which divergent views and opinions coexist on the basis of a belief in a new, communal and creative way of life.
"There is a beautiful mess outside, how can you stay in?" is written on a city wall.
"We need free space not castle dreams" is written on another city wall.
We have to move Urgently deals with the processes that were going on here. For that reason, the work is as actual as the events themselves. But of course, only three, instead of thousands of people propose this experiment. It is their way to test new artistic, social, scientific models of acting together in an open spirit. It is the spectator who finally makes sense of the way these three individuals interact.
On voit apparaître des logiques à plusieurs valeurs pour lesquelles l’indéterminé par exemple est une catégorie du savoir. Dans ce contexte culturel surgit une poétique nouvelle où l’œuvre d’ art n’ est plus dotée d’ une fin nécessaire et donc prévisible.
(Umberto Eco, ‘Opera aperta’, Bompiani Milano 1962)
In a sense, this performance is the outcome of chance. Originally, the performers planned to make a work about our understanding of science and art. But a major social uproar affected the rehearsal process. What the performers saw and experienced became source material for ‘We have to move urgently’.
Lists proved to be a conceptual tool in exploring the events. Lists organize ideas and impressions, but, unlike political theory, which sets the rules and defines the frame, lists defy conclusions and invite openness. Lists reinforce each other while theories fight each other.
This wide range of approaches became dramaturgical tools to arrive at a container of actions that try to sympathize with the necessity that collectively we need to move urgently, while still upholding each individual voice.
Pieter T’Jonck
concept Taldans creation Filiz Sizanli, Mustafa Kaplan, Vania Rovisco light Jan Maertens artistic advice Zhana Ivanova, Pieter T’Jonck, Cevdet Erek, Marcus Rovisco production Platform 0090, Taldans coproduction wpZimmer, Buda, Fabrik Potsdam project management Firat Kuscu, Valerie De Visscher thanks to Demimonde na Galeria da Boavista-Lisboa for hosting our live process, ÇATI Association-Istanbul for providing workspace sustained by the EMWAP project funded by the European Culture programme (www.emwap.eu)
trailers see vimeo
press Fabrik Potsdam (German only)
