The performance series ‘Re-enchantment’ signifies a re-enchantment of the world, a search for the forces within the body, for synergies between forms of life, for trance and intoxication as an alternative to the materialistic and algorithmically influenced present.

Following Silvia Federici Re-enchantment represents also a search for communal forms of property and social forms of organization that emancipate themselves from exploitative ideologies and technologies. Conversely, Max Weber used the term ‘disenchantment’ to describe a state of historical loss stemming from reductive and exploitative ideologies and technologies, and collapsing into a peculiarly modern form of intellectualized despair.

The performances by Magdalena Forster and Milena Georgieva and by Lisen Pousette and Olivia Rivière bring to life the narrative of the historical loss of this ‘disenchantment of the world’ as described by Max Weber: as a kind of archaic revival that undermines positivist knowledge systems, instead following networked and spiritual understandings of the world. They shake up the ruthless forgetting and sing (re-chant) about what is supposedly lost or hidden. The voice – as part of the body – becomes an instrument of resistance; their dissonances challenge rationality; their vibrations invite you to perceive the present not in an alienated way, but collectively.

For Magdalena Forster and Milena Georgieva, the alga Porphyra, which the two artists produce themselves, serves as a metaphor for a sentient organ that explores the environment and creates connections between diverse life forms. In Spiritus, Lisen Pousette and Olivia Rivière explore ideas of ‘resonance’, where resonance is understood both as an acoustic phenomenon and as something that describes a relationship. Their practices of resonance have their origins in the voice; as they explore dissonant sound frequencies with their bodies, evoking a variety of textures and forms, spaces of intimacy and emotional connection emerge.

Dates:

10 Apr, 20:00
Magdalena Forster and Milena Georgieva: Porphyra

17 Apr, 20:00
Lisen Pousette and Olivia Rivière: Spiritus

(Free entry)