Plus ou moins l'infini

Plus ou moins l’infini is a kinetic play with movement as its main axis. This necessity is the result of its subject, which is the “line”, the very nature of which is movement, as a line is a direction that can be followed either way.

Plus ou moins l’infini is a kinetic play with movement as its main axis. This necessity is the result of its subject, which is the “line”, the very nature of which is movement, as a line is a direction that can be followed either way. This necessity is also the result of the axioms of the trilogy: the permanent movements of objects set in motion by the actor alone, and the movements of the actor himself as the main source of action. Whereas IJK was mainly based on juggling and Plan B on acrobatics, Plus ou moins l’infini combined both, only to erase them and use only their potential: movement which is constantly opposed to its contrary: immobility. This tension between immobility and movement, which is present throughout the play, reflects our relationship to time and space. Everything is in movement yet nothing appears to move.

Limits

Plus ou moins l’infini is a show about limits. The universe is in movement as life is in movement yet we only know the beginning of the story. It was important in Plus ou moins l’infini to evoke the limit or end. A limit is a notion that opposes that of infinity. Furthermore, Plus ou moins l’infini is the opus and therefore the limit of the trilogy. It is also located on the border of the arts unfolding on stage, without seeking to define itself further.

The body

Plus ou moins l’infini explores the relationship between Man and space, or more exactly Man’s body in relation to space. And it’s this body, which is felt to be a limit or obstacle, that’s the issue. Plus ou moins l’infini tells of the body’s self-effacement or on the contrary, its extension. Both belong to the same movement. Could it not be said that images, long-distance communication and the probes that we send out into space are all extensions of our own bodies?

Networks

This crossroad of the senses and combinations creates a network that can be interpreted in several ways. There are as many points of convergence and ramifications as in the play of lines in Schlemmer’s concept of space. The idea of a network also converges with that of the original structure of space, where matter and light merge as one. Furthermore the evocation of artificial, electronic and undulatory networks is very present in the subject. Most of the music is made up of sounds made by a fax machine. This approach reflects our creative process, which is based on research and experimentation, which is to choose a point and extend it to infinity.

Humanity

Man’s relationship to space is also present in the title: Plus ou moins l’infini (More or less, infinity).  “More or less” being on Man’s side and “infinity” being on the side of space.  “What is humanity?” asked Jean-Luc Godard after the show.  His answer was “it is a curve of infinite length at all points except one, where it is non-existent.”  The curve being that of Laurent Schwartz, French mathematician awarded the Fields medal.