Rhizikon

‘Rhizikon’ is a condensed allegory that aims to provoke sensations and reflection on the concept of putting oneself into play – into danger.

Rhizikon is a condensed allegory – physical, visual and auditory – that aims to provoke sensations, sentiments, questioning, reverie and reflection on the concept of putting oneself into play – into danger. A piece on the relationship with risk – madness or necessity – which causes us to walk on the edge. Risk – the imminence of danger – is often triggered by a life force. The need to mobilise powerful resources in order to preserve one’s existence often arises when this is threatened. In the same way, ancient initiation rites such as baptism consisted of submerging a person, keeping their head underwater until they almost drowned. On the brinks of death, an ancient, essential life force takes hold. This is a ‘rebirth’.
 As a trapeze artist, I have often asked myself what made me dedicate so much time to hanging from one arm, eight metres in the air. The fascination with limits – whose paradox is that they can always be pushed – the quest for a form of elation, the attempt to restore a weakening lust of life? (See D. Le Breton 1991 – 2002)
What are we searching for when we take a risk, what is this need that makes us stand on the edge of the void, well aware that we are courting danger? Attraction? Revulsion? Fascination? Where is the balance between excess safety and excess danger? Or rather, what is the perpetual imbalance – narrowly saving ourselves, though never completely? 

Chloé Moglia 

“It’s about confronting death in a metaphorical way, making the threat almost accessible and avoiding it by taking precautions. Stabilising death in this way, defining the limits of its power, reinforces the feeling of identity for people who dare to attempt this challenge. Success breeds enthusiasm, a surge of meaning that corresponds to a symbolic effectiveness that restores more favourable foundations to existence, for a while at least.”

David Le Breton, Passions du risque, published by Métailié Sciences Humaines