Artwork of the month - video (52 sec)

Don't we deserve grand human projects that give us meaning?

Year	2017 - ongoing
Duration	1 hour
Materials	1 red ball, 2 actors, 3 doors, white carpet, forex panels, water, video projection & soundtrack
Production	CAMPO - coproduction De Beursschouwburg (BE), PACT Zollverein (DE) & Auawirleben Bern (CH)
Tour info	See CAMPO website
Booking	Contact us
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How do you deal with the universal human desire to be part of a larger whole?

In Don’t we deserve grand human projects, R&F F&R look for meaning in a world with no Grand Narrative, and this artistic duo do it in their very own way: with references to space travel (a theme that had already appeared in their earlier work, e.g. A Journey into Space) and science. One of the major sources of inspiration for this production was Dave Eggers’ novel 'Your Fathers Where Are They? And The Prophets Do They Live Forever?', in which he looks for answers to life’s Great Questions.

For R&F F&R, the need for meaning evolved from an almost shamanist world-view, with accompanying masks and pregnant symbolism, to the worldliness of contemporary politics and the ubiquitous visual idiom of America. In 'Don’t we deserve grand human projects' they take the next step in their process of attributing meaning.

Whereas in the past R&F F&R were still the operators who set the transformations of the images and scenes in motion, in this new production they examine how they themselves can for the first time become part of their installations and designs. The artists divide and duplicate themselves as atoms in an imaginary world of primary colours that stands out sharply against the pure white landscape they find themselves in.

In this new production too, R&F F&R generate a new, well-delineated visual vocabulary in which, this time, craft makes way for clean design. In a game using intelligent cut-outs, they again and again create new and surprising perspectives that allow them to travel in time or to freeze their world for a moment. These cardboard versions of everyday objects, and above all of themselves, make up the building blocks of the performance.

Soundscapes, text and music are always a fundamental part of R&F F&R’s productions. This time, the peculiar soundtrack was put together by the composer and multi-instrumentalist Boris Zeebroek. The performance is also accompanied by a voice-over that will be somewhere between a sports commentary, an explanation of metaphysics and an instruction tape for a conjuring trick.

PREMIERE March 31 & April 1, 2017 in PERFORMATIK Brussels (BE)
BY AND WITH Frank&Robbert Robbert&Frank / DRAMATURGY Pol Heyvaert
SOUND DESIGN Boris Zeebroek / VOICE-OVER Jonathan Beaton & Anna Stoppa
MOVEMENT COACH Charlotte Vanden Eynde
TECHNIQUE Korneel Coessens, Bart Huybrechts & Maarten Van Trigt
THANKS TO Arne Wastyn & the Keys Family
PRODUCTION CAMPO / COPRODUCTION Beursschouwburg Brussels (BE), PACT Zollverein Essen (DE) & Auawirleben Bern (CH)

P.S.
This video capture is part of a temporary online library of video registrations of Belgian theatre show and performances: Podium aan Huis.
Check it out the content is amazing!

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