Toxic Davos
A get-together
The event took place on Dec 4, 2 – 10 pm in brut Künstlerhaus, Vienna. A sort of performance/symposium, it was a mix of discussions, small lecture performances, expert’s views, video screenings and an open “town hall” conversation between artists and audience members. The idea was not only to talk politics but to find a process that in political terms turn the talk into the creation of political art.
The following clips, images, texts are a documentation of the day’s proceeding.
The setting. The room was arranged for a symposium with a very large audience space and a quite narrow performance area. The audience sat around round tables, drinks and food were served during the full eight hours. The performance area contained a lectern, a large video screen, a sitting area à la talk show set up and different props and set pieces that were needed for the different scenes.
Right in the beginning the audience was asked to reenact a short scene from Goldrush by Charlie Chaplin, the famous dancing roll.
Next the audience was asked to fill in a questionnaire.
Following the questionnaire we screened a video interview with the culture speakers of the Austrian political parties and young adults.
The next hour was dedicated to presentations of scenes by toxic dreams.
How Many Light Bulbs? (based on an idea by David McKay)
Green House Effect
Energy Waste
Worst Case Scenario
The Economic Crisis (text by Bird & Fortune)
The Left (text by Tony Judt)
The Oil Spill (text by Clarke and Dawe)
You, Me, Brecht and Zizek (text by S. Zizek and B. Brecht)
Coffee break
Audience discussion about the relevance of Brecht’s theories to today’s political theatre.
Decalude by Idit Nathan
A series of ten scores and games
in cardboard boxes, each with instructions and props for participatory pieces to be enjoyed by the audience.
Titles included: Photo of your choice I , Photo of your choice II , Most Pressing Concern, Drawing the Line I, Drawing the Line II , Exquisite Corpse, Objectstory, Lets play…war!, Paper War, Lets Race. (Photo of your choice I & II are dedicated to Alison Knowles and inspired by her score called ‘Shoes of Your Choice’)
The second hour dedicated to presentations of scenes by toxic dreams.
The Man (text adapted from Austin Sidley)
Sustainability. A lecture demonstration by the architect Peter Leeb.
Music & Politics. An audio-visual lecture by Michael Strohmann.
The latest conspiracy theory
Real People
Financial Game Show (text by Clarke and Dawe)
The Church of Warren Buffett (text adapted from an article by Mattathias Schwartz published in Harper magazine)
Dinner and informal talk
Lecture “Choice” by Renata Salecl
Final talk with the audience reguarding art and charity.