Extinction Room (Hopeless.)
Duration: approx. 1 hour and 50 minutes.
«Extinction Room (Hopeless.)» is a performative, multi-channel sound installation comprised of recordings of extinct and endangered species of birds.
Against a soundscape of bird calls, cries and songs, developed in collaboration with composer AGF (aka Antye Greie), three performers recount the stories of the species heard. Scientific narratives of extinction are interwoven with myths. Folk songs and dances are brought to life. The emotional burden – the sorrow – is intensified by the performers who lead the audience through these traumatic experiences of loss, and of losses yet to come.
«Extinction Room» is a continuation of the performance «Hopeless.», in which the pastoral poetry of Greek and Roman antiquity is evoked and reanimated. These artefacts of nature, left behind by Theocritus and Virgil, provide a basis from which to explore the idea of nature in western society and its representation in artistic and cultural products, at a time when climate scientists have given us good cause to panic.
In «Extinction Room», the artefacts take the form of sound recordings of extinct and endangered bird species, collected over several decades by the Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and the Xeno Canto Foundation.
Sergiu Matis was born in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. He lives and works in Berlin. His work is based on his own movement practice of the «visible thinking body», a method of thinking the body in motion. In his performances, the voice dances as much as the body.
Concept, Choreography: Sergiu Matis. With: Manon Parent, Sergiu Matis, Martin Hansen. Sound installation and composition: AGF aka Antye Greie.
Text: Philip Ingman, Sergiu Matis, Mila Pavićevic. Species research: Philip Ingman. Dramaturgy: Mila Pavićevic. Sound: Martin Lutz. Production management: 4Culture Association. Financed by: AFCN – The National Administration of Cultural Funds, Romanian Cultural Institute, Europalia Arts Festival Brussels. Produced by: Sergiu Matis production. Funded by: Hauptstadtkulturfonds, Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe. Coproduced by: 4Culture Association, WASP Studios, ICI-CCN de Montpellier – Occitanie as part of “Life Long Burning (LLB) – Towards a Sustainable Eco-System for Contemporary Dance in Europe” cofounded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union. Supported by: Centre of Drama Art Zagreb and Art workshop Lazareti Dubrovnik.
Info:
Please remember to wear weatherproof clothing.
All open air and courtyard events can be postponed or cancelled in case of bad weather conditions. Please inform yourself in advance. Short term information on www.tanznachtberlin.de.
The time slot ticket allows to enter the Uferstudios via the entrance Badstraße 41a 30 minutes before the beginning of the event.
It is not possible to pass on the time slot ticket to third parties.