OSCYL

Héla Fattoumi and Éric Lamoureux continue their research on the subject of “otherness,” a question which has been part of their journey since its inception. Otherness is defined here as a state, the quality of that which is perceived as other, different, exterior to the “self,” exterior to our referenced reality …

For this creation, they have conceived seven bio-morphic, human-sized sculptures, inspired by Hans Arp’s Winged Entity.

They have called them « oscyls* », in part because of their ability to oscillate.

Surrounded by these intriguing presences and with the support of their creative team, they are creating a new experiential space to examine the mysterious, unexpected, even harsh interconnections which constitute the dynamics of otherness, beyond all presupposition, assignation or prejudice …

Is this not one of the principal issues facing our world, a world in crisis?

Ten shapes create a landscape. They come to life, revealing two radically distinct but related populations. The first group is human, and as always with Héla Fattoumi and Éric Lamoureux, diverse: their skins, their wear-and-tear, their differing morphologies and journeys fill up the space, forming a mass of humanity. Next to them, theoscylswait, immobile for a few seconds or is it several centuries; only an exterior energy can bring them to life. If man is generous, offering him his breath, they will be able to tumble, pace and whirl. Are they abstract puppets, giant Weebles, or organisms inspired by the work of the sculptor Hans Arp? They have neither foundation nor base; their anchoring is also their mobility.

The dancers seek out contact, trying to invent a language via the medium of touch. Each signal, each impulse or approach calls for a reaction which will then trigger a dialogue. Are the oscylstheir partners, their mirrors or their alter egos? Embrace, side steps, a skimming touch: by transmitting his or her energy, each dancer imprints on his or her OSCYL a certain singularity. What exactly is happening between them: is it a pas de deux, training or manipulation? We can no longer see who is the cause and who the effect, the relationship is so strange and new.

Perhaps they are a little like marionnettes, reacting to the manipulations of their human “masters,” amplifying it, transforming it, thwarting it and prolonging it. But whereas a marionnette answers precisely the intentions of its “manipulator,” the oscyls, once launched, takes on its own strange autonomy.

The mystery continues : once launched, they are able to compress and dilate time, pulling the dancers into reactive dances ranging from great delicacy to jubilatory exhilaration.

The oscyls, by their very unpredictability, have both a force and a secret to transmit: if they tip in one direction so far as to hit the ground, they always tip back up, ready to go again!