I haven’t seen anything yet by Joris Lacoste, but I like his different approaches. In some works he explores hypnosis and in others, games, as if he wanted his work to show the two opposing trends that have characterised art since the end of the 19th century. We could imagine that the hypnosis scene is set up by Wagner when the lights go down and the orchestra becomes invisible. Spectators are invited into the world of fascination in the same way that would happen later with film, television and other screens, all forms of entertainment that were criticised for immobilising spectators. And then there are games, which from Futurist and Dadaist performances to modern policies of participation (from performances to reality shows) invite spectators to mobilise themselves. In the case of reality shows, viewers mobilise themselves in protest at the manipulation on show.
The theatre sets immobile, hypnotised spectators against mobile, manipulated ones. Joris Lacoste, far from identifying with either trend, seems to create shows that question whether this antagonism remains truly operative.
NOTE 1: In a recent post on Kris Verdonck’s show Exit, at which the audience were invited to go to sleep.
NOTE 2: This post is related to a show on memory (proyecto s/t 2) that I will talk about later.