Der Bau

In Kafka’s incomplete story Der Bau, an animal’s den is described that is created from a body and made up of it.It serves as a metaphor and the point of departure for a research into the special relationship between the body and space.

In Kafka’s incomplete story Der Bau, an animal’s den is described that is created from a body and made up of it – its forms, traces, smells, excretions and reserves, its hopes and despair within. It serves as a metaphor for our title, and the point of departure for a continuing research into the special relationship between the body and space that we began in 2008 with the series of pieces called Unturtled.
In Unturtled #1-4, costumes become transitional objects, a prosthesis (the last nonexistent layer of the body) and the first layer of cover of the outer space. Seeing costumes as organs allowed us to investigate the body and the surrounding space that is generated from it: as a stage and as a stage set. During the Der Bau work process, it became clear that the space is itself an organ and an extension of the body. To understand this idea, Rilke’s perspective on the sculptor Rodin helped us: according to him, Rodin didn’t form the bodies into a sculpture, but rather the spaces around the bodies. We create a flat and flowing space out of big pieces of cloth: the material as external layers (fabric) is treated like internal layers (fabric). They react in a surprisingly lively way, simultaneously like a body part, vessel and partner.
With Der Bau Isabelle Schad and Laurent Goldring continue their successful cooperation in the series Unturtled. The aesthetics of the performances produced within this series is unique. Unturtled #1-4 has been touring worldwide since 2008.

Source : Isabelle Schad and Laurent Goldring

More information : www.isabelle-schad.net/