BACKSTAGE

full moon midnight of September 2, 2020

Welcome Backstage.
Imagine that the imaginary Fifth Wall is not not there.

As a metaphorical and architectural boundary, the Fifth Wall divides the visible from the invisible, protecting viewers from the chaotic and visceral aspects of the process. The Fifth Wall upholds the presentation’s mystery and allows for the fabrication of a coherent fantasy. But is this boundary to be respected or challenged? Do we risk losing the magic by challenging this device and exposing too much?

It's not that by breaking the proverbial Fourth Wall we breach the interpersonal divide and tap into universal consciousness. Similarly, I doubt that the temporary removal of the Fifth Wall would give us unlimited access to the innermost mechanisms of stagecraft. This removal is an intentional gesture towards transparency into the complex, yet often oversimplified systems of values and mechanisms of depiction.

In one of our backstage conversations, somebody used the word “product” in relation to the Company’s work and process and I saw a field of flashing red lights. The Company, its formation, and its embodiment of social and sculptural forms, are they not enough to justify its coming into existence? Why do we need a product at this stage?

“Product” and “productivity” position the focus on the fabrication of consumable objects or experiences and a subsequent profitable exchange or return. I decided to no longer use these terms to describe moments in our process, the focus of which is manifesting new possibilities rather than operating from premeditated expectations. After a search for other words to use, instead of “products,” I chose the word outcomes, and, instead of “productive,” the word successful.

But what awaits us in this version of a backstage without a Fifth Wall?

In the spirit of transparency, and in being true to the weight of the experiments, we reject productivity and embrace the doubt, insecurity, and uncertainty that might await in a backstage without a Fifth Wall. Instead of (the ongoing) anxiety management, can we invest in the physical mechanisms of the removal of this wall: in tripods and construction sites, binder clips and glue sticks, band-aids, and deodorants?

The removal of the Fifth Wall reveals not only the materialist nature of the sculptural apparatus. It also exposes the behind-the-scenes of the production and presentations of work and the power dynamics and codependencies between creators, collaborators, presenters, funding bodies, partners, and viewers. It is a radical transparency that exposes the skeleton of the purported logic and dynamics of neoliberalism. By revealing the scaffolding of these codependencies, we might come face-to-face and Hand-to-Mouth with the controlling factors that animate individual and organizational choices.

With this in mind, and by intentionally and temporarily giving up on the conviction embedded in opaqueness and productivity, we might also offer a temporary release for viewers from their assumed position of consumers. Under this newly released condition, the viewer is invited to become an invested and involved part of an accumulative process; an experience that unfolds and reveals itself over time. 

We also danced a video in the studio. 
This is our first outcome. 
Successful? You tell me.

Nobody cares, until somebody does, and then it's their problem.

Dancers: Tushrik Fredrick, Laura K. Nicoll, Margaux Marielle-Trehoüart
Inanimate Collaborators: Trivision, Piazza Sq Station (PSS), Scanner001
Created and Directed by: Deville Cohen
Choreography: Tushrik Fredrick, Laura K. Nicoll, Deville Cohen  
Guest Dramaturge: Ian Cofre
Soundtrack: Kalpol Introl by Autechre ©️1993 Warp Records + https://freesound.org/