The Silent Body
A soundproof glass wall separates a naked performer from the museum visitor. He or she fantasizes about a sexual encounter with the viewer. The pane of glass renders the words inaudible—the performer seems to have been silenced—but the words are immediately converted by a speech to text app, and projected on the rear wall.
On the one hand, the work articulates the desire for physical closeness, and addresses the viewer as a sexual object, yet on the other immediately eliminates any possibility of physical contact. The glass seems to censor the words. It illustrates the domestication of our wild, animal natures.
A soundproof glass wall separates a naked performer from the museum visitor. He or she fantasizes about a sexual encounter with the viewer. The pane of glass renders the words inaudible—the performer seems to have been silenced—but the words are immediately converted by a speech to text app, and projected on the rear wall.
On the one hand, the work articulates the desire for physical closeness, and addresses the viewer as a sexual object, yet on the other immediately eliminates any possibility of physical contact. The glass seems to censor the words. It illustrates the domestication of our wild, animal natures.
Credits
concept Dries Verhoeven
performers Evalinde Lammers & Barnaby Savage
text contribution Jibbe Willems
software Sylvain Vriens & Laurens van der Werff
dramaturgy Hellan Godee
artistic assistence: Bart van de Woestijne & Casper Wortmann
translation Amira Day
editor Sarah Ringoet
With the support of the Dutch Embassy in Belgium