Future <Void>

in collaboration with Ildikó Tóth, Lisanne Goodhue, Matthias Gruner

walk-in performance by Lisanne Goodhue and Ildikó Tóth
2022, 60 min

„If a future doesn’t produce a usable value, then the future’s type is Future<void>.“
– Dart, programming language

FUTURE VOID is a multidisciplinary cooperation which explores temporal references and constellations within dance, movement, sound, light and video. Together with the choreographers Lisanne Goodhue and Ildikó Tóth and the media artist Matthias Gruner, I traced the reciprocal relationships between past and present as well as present and future. The present time of the performance forms the intersection in and at which these temporalities meet. In close collaboration with the contributions in dance and visuals, I developed a composition for two rooms, eight loudspeakers and headphones. 

In the Techne Sphere Leipzig––the former Kirow-Werke, which were rebuilt according to Oscar Niemeyer’s plans––FUTURE VOID attempts to equalize, fragment, and reunite different temporalities in a new way. The dancing body functions as an instrument that tunes into performative processes that are comparable to filmic editing. Fragments of the past are transferred to the present, bodies of the future and bodies of the now are identified, explored and questioned – those of the audience, the performers, the film and the sound.

FUTURE VOID follows on from the work „Passed Present Perfect“, which was developed during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021 at the Schaubühne Lindenfels in Leipzig and partly developed and performed on screen. Quite similarly, FUTURE VOID makes use of the dancing body as an artistic tool that makes it possible to travel through time/to travel through time together. The diverse physical realities of the past, present and future that are created in this way can have a challenging effect on the audience’s perception. Crowd images, streams of movement and time-lapse are just some of the numerous dance elements. In addition, concrete, freight elevators and columns are both material and participants. Everything communicates, but not every effect has a cause. The unexpected happens.

Credits:

Concept: Felix Deufel, Lisanne Goodhue, Matthias Gruner, Ildikó Tóth
Choreografie, Performance: Lisanne Goodhue, Ildikó Tóth
Video: Matthias Gruner
Sound: Felix Deufel
Dramaturgy: Alisa Hecke, Tessa Theisen
Production: Constance Künzel

Eine Koproduktion mit der Schaubühne Lindenfels und dem Verein 4fürTANZ Leipzig. Unterstützt durch TECHNE SPHERE LEIPZIG und das NATIONALE PERFORMANCE NETZ – STEPPING OUT, gefördert von der Beauftragten der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien im Rahmen der Initiative NEUSTART KULTUR. Hilfsprogramm Tanz. Mit freundlicher Unterstützung des Hörspielsommer e.V.