it aint over till its over

My newest production with bigNOTWENDIGKEIT premiered in late May in Berlin.

This turned out to be an approximate 90 minutes performance, in which Esther Becker creates a chain of associations that pulsate around the theme of how and why things come to an end. Danijela Milijic is creating an excistence of her own by monotonic and ceaseless counting.

Since this was not a theatrical set up as such anymore, the request for light and sound was somewhat bit different also. Me and sound designer Alice Ferl were asked to produce a different level of being with our media. The space was turned into an experimental laboratory where we try out and execute our own compositions and adaptations of possible "ends".

I used quite a lot of very subtle chasers and painstakingly slow fades to interact and contrapunkt with the soundscapes Alice created. As result we have a space which has a life of it's own and is swaying, pulsating and flickering in a barely noticeable way. Everything is also run manually, so no two shows are quite the same and there is always room for improvisation and possibility to interact with Esther. 

All this is obviously quite impossible to see in a 2D photographs, but I will try to post a video as soon as the editing is finished to sample the idea better.

Description in German by bigNOTWENDIGKEIT:

"Das Ende ist präsent. Szenarien vom Ende begleiten uns täglich. Unermüdlich werden Enden proklamiert. Es ist das Ende der Geschichte, das Ende des Klassenkampfes, das Ende der Philosophie, das Ende des Christentums und der Moral, das Ende des Subjekts, das Ende des Menschen, das Ende des Abendlandes, das Ende des Ödipus, das Ende der Welt, Apocalypse now...

...Die Apokalypse gehört zu unserem Handgepäck. Sie ist ein Aphrodisiakum. Und sie ist ein Angsttraum. Sie ist eine Ware wie jede andere. Sie tritt uns in allen möglichen Gestalten und Verkleidungen entgegen, als warnender Zeigefinger und als wissenschaftliche Prognose, als Weckruf und als Produkt der Unterhaltungsindustrie, als Aberglauben, als Vexierbild, als Kick. Sie ist allgegenwärtig aber nicht wirklich: eine unaufhörliche Produktion unserer Fantasie, eine Katastrophe im Kopf. bigNOTWENDIGKEIT fassen das Ende näher ins Auge....

 

...Was ist das Faszinierende am Ende? Warum wird es bemüht? Was macht Enden zu Enden? Und was endet je wirklich? Ist die letzte Schwalbe das Ende des Sommers? Ist die erste Lüge das Ende der Liebe? Ist das Ende eines Romans der letzte Satz? Ist das Ende eines Films die letzte Szene oder der Moment, wenn der Abspann vorbei ist und das Licht im Kinosaal wieder angeht? Ideen von, Erinnerungen an und die Angst vor Enden werden befragt und ertragen. bigNOTWENDIGKEIT untersuchen ausgesuchte Enden aus Literatur, Film, Historie und Kunst auf ihre verschiedenen Qualitäten. Was lehren sie über Aufhören, Weitermachen und Neu-Anfangen?....

 

...Enden können Angst machen und sie können erleichtern. Sie können etwas wegnehmen, aber auch den Weg für etwas Neues öffnen. Erst vom Ende her können wir Dinge deuten und bewerten. Erst das Ende schafft Struktur und ermöglicht Anschauung. Soviel steht fest: ob angekündigt oder überraschend, ersehnt oder gefürchtet, unvermeidbar oder herbeigeführt: Das Ende ist nie eine Tatsache, sondern immer eine gedeutete Tatsache vor dem Horizont anderer Tatsachen...

...Der letzte Vorhang ist noch nicht gefallen. Und ist nicht das Interesse für das Ende ein leidenschaftliches Interesse für´s Weitergehen, für die Fortsetzung, die Umkehr, den Anfang, für ein Leben in größerer Fülle als bisher? Ob angekündigte Weltenden, das Ende der Kindheit, das Ende der DDR, ob Black, Tod, das Happy End, der Abschied, Zerfall, der Vorhang, der Countdown, das Fade Out, der Schlussakkord, die Katastrophe, die Lösung oder die Vollendung – in Gesten, Erzählungen und Bildern werden Enden von bigNOTWENDIGKEIT heraufbeschworen, seziert, zelebriert, und neu montiert....

...Der Countdown läuft. Das Ende ist nah."

Regie: bigNOTWENDIGKEIT (Anna K. Becker & Katharina Bischoff)
von & mit: Esther Becker, Danijela Milijic
Dramaturgie: Heike Pelchen
Bühne: Ina Vera
Licht: Minna Heikkilä
Musik/Sound: Alice Ferl
Assistenz: Anne Herwanger
Produktionsleitung: ehrliche arbeit - freies kulturbüro

Next show dates:
18., 19., & 20. September:    Rote Fabrik Clubraum, Zürich, CH

2011 Recap part 4: Braunschweig

In the beginning on December we went with "Turn the Page" to perform in Braunschweig, which is located some 200kms west from Berlin. I had really stressed with all the paperwork during the previous week, but managed to finish everything in time. My work really paid off, since there was again an accident on the German Autobahn, so we greatly delayed on our arrival to the Lot Theater.

The technicians of the house had started setting our show up even before I got there, which is always bit of a gamble, because one needs to see the space and make some adaptations, even in the best case situation. This time it all turned out perfect, because my papers were pretty exact and the stage somewhat similar to Berlin. So everything went like song and dance. It was absolutely fabulous!!! Its good to have this kind of experiences once in a while and it's definitely a perfect way to end the touring year. A big thanks to Matze and all his colleagues on Lot!!

My team mates told me that they suspect that Braunschweig is bit of a dull town with not much going on there. So I was greatly and positively surprised as the town presented itself to be very pretty and cozy looking place. It reminded me much of Oslo, as strange it might sound... The architecture is beautiful and distances are easy to handle even on foot. I enjoyed our short visit to this town!

Christmas Market downtown Braunschweig

Another view to Christmas market

Cartoon clad building near Altstadt

We were booked at the Hotel Meyer, little bit outside the immediate downtown. A very cute place, seemingly owned by a an old couple. All the furnishings and interior is somehow a mish-mash of variety of styles, but the general feeling it emits is very homey. Shower and toilets on the corridor, but no biggie issue.

The thing that amused the most me and Alice, who I shared the room with, was the remote control of the TV. First of all, we weren't supposed to have a TV, because it would have cost extra, but who cares. There it was anyway, sitting on the corner of the desk, boasting generous 14 inches or so and very blurry picture. And the darned remote was as bit as the TV itself. So no chance of slipping it into your pocket by accident =)

THE TV

Alice and THE remote

2011 Recap part 3: Turn the Page

My biggest design job of this past autumn was "Turn the Page" for bigNOTWENDIGKEIT. We were working on a theme of self-narration and the documents and momories people leave behind them. 



"Turn the page" brings five performers on stage to explore diaries, letters and pictures and the documentary traces left behind by five other lives. Out of these they try to create "ideal biography". Through the stories, they explore the strategies and mechanisms of self-narration and thus throw questions of self-construction, self-presentation and the ingredients for a successful thing perceived as life.

One of the early sketches

The first explorative phase took place in Zürich in October and from there we moved to Berlin in November.

All photos © Gerhard F. Ludwig / fotofisch-berlin.de

 

Medea in Luzern

In the beginning of October I headed out to Luzern to have the last two shows of "Keep on searching for a heart of gold".

Famous wooden bridge, downtown Luzern

We performed at Südpol Theater in Kriens, which was an excellent experience. The theater is only approximately one year old and everything is still brand new. So new, that in the whole complex, we couldn't find one single floppy drive to read my show data. "Everyone has a mac laptop here..."

Südpol (Photo: http://www.reso.ch/)

The area where the theater is located, is pretty strange. You get the feeling of really being in the industrial area somewhere beyond civilization. No matter, downtown Luzern is only half an hours' walk away, but still you feel weirdly detached. The theater has a beautiful guest apartment right there and I quite enjoyed staying there and spending some time with our team members, whose I haven't seen since the disastrous Hamburg gig in mid-July.

Working in Südpol was an absolute bliss. All the gear is shiny and new, no scratches anywhere in their Robert Juliat's and ETC's. We also had plenty of time to set everything up and the ouse technicians were all very helpful and friendly. The Swiss precision in action, I should say. They really have invested in good quality there, so the venue is warmly recommended under any circumstances.

Freetime
Me and Esther went walking on our free hours in the afternoon. It was nice to just get outside the black box and enjoy the warm autumn day. The föhn wind had provided us peachy +20 degrees, so no need for dressing up like an onion there.

Downtown Luzern on the old town side we found this brilliant little take-away thai restaurant called Song Pi Nong. We landed there just in time, since one should notice that most of the restaurants in Luzern are strangely closed between 15.00-17.00 on weekday afternoons. The place can take perhaps 20 customers on one go and is very nicely designed and clean. And the food is almost as good as in Thailand and comes with all appropriate condiments. It's bit pricey (but then again; all eating out in Switzerland is), but not in an outrageous way. Well worth the investment.

Song Pi Nong

The urban legend of Swiss mountains
I was in Luzern from early Wednesday morning to Friday night. So plenty of time, and some of it free too. But guess three times if there was any visible mountains in the vicinity? The first two guesses don't count. It's been only over four years that I've tried to spot some sort of bump in the landscape on a clear day. It just doesn't happen to me, the mountains take the day off, if they hear me coming...

I just have to google them to have some proof... (photo: http://www.flowzone.ch/)

"Don't panic" in Hamburg

Warning: This post contains whole lot of complaining, whining, professional jargon and frustration. But perhaps also little bit of humour.

Once upon a time we had a guest performance on Kaltstart festival in Hamburg. They invited us and promised only fame and honor, no fortune. Fair enough, can do.

Getting there
It didn't start well. First of all, my flight from Basel was cancelled and I had to commute to Zürich on one of the hottest days of the whole summer, in a bus with no air conditioning whatsoever. Groovy, soaking in sweat and also hungry as hell. But no worries, the airline offered passengers some sandwiches, yippee. -Filled with cream-cheese and quark, just what my lactose-intolerance was yearning for. Pass. Still hungry as hell.

Eventually I arrived in Hamburg only some three hours delayed and went to see our venue in the evening. Hmmm, okay, for once the space seems bigger than in photos. But, there was no lamps of any kind and the console was baby-size Behringer-plaything. We'll worry about that in the morning, since there was nobody inquire.

Schulterblatt, St. Pauli

Equipment
We went to the theater already at 8:30 in the morning to hoist our stuff in. Set-up for the lights was supposed to strat at 10:00. This didn't perk such enthusiasm on the local crew, who slouched in during the following hour. I inquired politely the whereabouts about my equipment which was all okayed by the festival in forehand.

9 hours to showtime.

Crew: "What do you need?"
Minna: "The things that were listed on the email and are shown here on this light-plot"
Crew: "???  Oh, you have a light-plot, cool"
Minna: "??? Pheew, let's count together again... look."

Anyhow, we somehow reached an agreement on what they were supposed to deliver for our show and then the bozos head out to get the stuff. I usually mean by starting time, the time when the set-up actually starts, not the time when one starts to figure what one needs for the set-up. Please correct me, if I got this somehow wrong.

So, what I could do in the meantime was to wait. And I waited until 14:30 and then I thought it has taken long enough, because my requests were not so elaborate ones after all. I manage finally to track the crew down, only to find them drinking coffee at the downstairs cafeteria. 

Minna: "Could we somehow start soon, please? I'm getting bit nervous here?"
Crew: "Oh, you wanna start already? The stuff is over there in the van, you can bring it up yourself."
Minna: "???"

5,5 hours to showtime.

Kulturhaus III&70, our venue and festival center

Setting up
Eventually all the gear was up on the stage. It was not quite what was wished for. Out of 15 requested Par 64's, they delivered 2; one functional and the other without bulb and plug. The rest of the stuff was mostly unrecognizable. My 6 x 1kW Floodlight topwash is reduced to 2 x 500W, of whose only one works in the end. Profile square is just a unprecise splotch on the floor. Washes don't cover the whole floor no matter how you squint your eyes.

Minna: "Öööö, this looks a bit like Par 56, but it has a G9 bulb inside? What is this?
Crew: "????"
Minna: "How many watts you suppose it uses?
Crew: "Don't know. Maybe 500??"
Minna: "How cool is this."

The only possible way to go about it, was just to try to deal out the things so that I could create at least homehow all the necessary directions and colors of light and settle with the fact that it's gonna look hideous.

Rigging the fixtures took most of the afternoon, everything being more or less plugged in by 17:00, at the point where I had to release the only technician helping me to have some lunch. Finished the rigging on my own. During the rigging there was lots of running around to find nonexisting extension cords and nonexisting clamps. Hmm.

My directors start to get bit agitated and ask me if there will be show tonite. I instruct them to think of the cover of the Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy; it says in big, friendly letters "Don't panic!"

3 hours to showtime.

Detail of the neighborhood no.1

Patching
When the technician was fed, he returned to me and we were supposed to do a hot patch on the dimmers, so that I can have my channel numbers to program with. At this point there was still a theoretical possibility for me to use Avab Cantor instead of the abovementioned Behringer. Main reason for this was that the Behringer can only do maximum 10-second fades, whereas the longest I needed was 3 minutes.

The method the technician used was not very efficient or fast, so after a half an hour and 5 patched channels, I suggested another approach since there was still almost 20 to go. At this point it comes clear that the dimmers don't work; -the light doesn't obey any number, not mine nor any other. To save time I back out of wanting my numbers, any number will do as long as it works. My technician runs to get help.

2 hours to showtime.

Around 19:15 most of the channels are somehow working and I have managed to do a very rough focusing while the guys are trying to find the missing channels. Some of the fixtures stay dead, there is bad cable or broken bulb, but no time or equipment to try to solve it. I back out wanting to do a sequence with programmed x-fades and decide to stick with the dumb Behringer, because I find out that the guys don't know how the Avab works.

Minna: "It is possible to program groups to submasters with Behringer?"
Crew: "Yes."
Minna: "It looks like a chaser should be very easy, since it's a disco-toy. Can you program one?"
Crew: "No, but give me two minutes, I'll figure it out. Its' no problem."

45 minutes to showtime.

Programming
The technicians post themselves behind the Behringer and start to figure the console out. I give them a list of 7 submasters that I absolutely need to survive the live-action-rock'n roll-show.

After a while one of the guys is beating the console and the other is reading the f***ing manual. The console don't work. Why I am not surprised at this point?

15 minutes to showtime.

Console still not working.

Detail of the neighborhood no.2

15 minutes past the supposed showtime.

Crew: "Now we think we got it for you! Please check."
Minna: "Not quite."
Crew: "Aaarghhh."

25 minutes past the supposed showtime.

Submasters are finally somewhat right, I have no chaser(s) and I'm not quite sure what is on the upper bank of the console, but I ask for the audience to be admitted in. i would figure it out as we go. "Let's rock'n roll!"

30 minutes past the supposed showtime.

We're finally on. And the show turns out to be one of the best we ever had, at least what comes to energy and mood. although, I have to admit that simulating a chaser of duration of 7 minutes by pumping submasters up and donw, is bit exhausting, when the temp is likely over 40 degrees Celsius. And that 3-minute upfade is not so smooth with Behringer submasters. I have to update our technical rider and state that Behringer and Eurolite are not wanted.

But the funniest thing in the end probably is, that I took a whole roll of Lee 201 with me, wishing to be properly prepared to use multiple 500W Floods (which were promised) instead 1kWs. The filter was the only thing that the folks at the festival had plenty of!

To live is to learn.

Bunker on Feldstrasse

After the show we just fast grabbed our gear and headed out for well-earned beer. Who needs to eat anyway? I had breakfast at 8:00 in the morning at the hotel, right =)

01:00 am.

Some of us ended up finishing the evening on top of the Bunker (courtesy of the set of keys the technical director of the festival has), sipping beer and admiring the 360deg city panorama. Finally unwinding.

Blind man & Rubick's cube

This week I've been in Berlin again, to set up yet another series of shows of our adaptation of Medea aka "Keep on searching for a heart of gold".

Our venue this time is Theaterdiscounter, which is quite ok place just around the corner from Alexanderplatz, on Klosterstrasse. The first performance will take place tonight and I'm somewhat ready to shoot.

It was a long road to get there, though, but I'm pretty satisfied with the outcome. I was told that the equipment at Theaterdiscounter is a mishmash of old fixtures and they didn't quite have everything I needed. So, eventually I rigged up a variety of different stuff begged and borrowed around Berlin to top up TD's gear. And it looks ways better than I hoped for. How cool is this!

The biggest obstacle turned out to be the light console. Theaterdiscounter has a relatively old console by German manufacturer Transtechnik. Very reliable, real machine-look and lots of possibilities, but... But! But, it speaks Transtechnikian or something similar, so even though I know enough German to get by, I was totally lost with this one!

Usually, in my experience, even with unknown consoles, it's possible to manage, because you can guess which button does what, since the terminology and shortenings are somewhat universal. But, not with Transtechnik. There, for example, normal channel (usually known as CH or CHAN) is called SK (comes from word Strohmkreis) and delete (DEL) answers to a name LOE (löschen, written without o with dots Ö-> oe).

So, I really needed an interpreter with programming. And the manual was in German and didn't have an index, so finding things in it took forever. As the house technician said: "I feel like a blind man with Rubick's cube..." I can soooo second that!

In the end everything turned out ok though and next time I know what to expect. So to live is to learn. Even if it's to learn to solve puzzle blindfolded =)

Design: no-bullshit 70's charm

German X-files aka Akte X, almost

Say whaaaat?

Ssssss....

Zürich without a map

Today I went walking. In Zürich. Without a map. I had only some brief instructions from Ingrid on a piece of paper.

I do know how to get around in Zürich, been here for various times already. But this time I wanted to explore something new. And new things I found, indeed. One can never tell beforehand in what kind of exotic place one ends up if only wandering aimlessly =)

First I sloughed my way into a jungle,
where all the traditional pot plants grow high as houses.

(Apologies for the lousy quality of these photos.)

In the jungle I exchanged some intel with a very friendly tucan bird,
who just wanted to get closer and closer. Didn't bite me, though.

These guys just minded their own business and
paid no attention whatsoever to me.

The details of the fine designs of Mother Nature
just blew me away.

Spiraly wonders.

If you're into seeing such things personally, visit the Stadtgärtnerei, in Hubertus, ZH. Quite nice greenhouses and gardens. Also a good option for a rainy day, because of the indoors.

After the jungle experience I decided to familiarise myself with some samples of Zürcher contemporary art. For this I chose Helmhaus, which is presenting some new sculpture at the moment and located conveniently downtown Zürich.

The exhibition "AZB for ever" didn't move me at all. Or perhaps I'm just too thick to understand the finesse of sculptural art. Most of the exhibits were in my opinion very minimalistic and geometric forms with fancy names that didn't really connect. And the other end of the style scale was very detailed and bright colored genital figurines. This also continued in some of additional sketches.

So, if I put two and two together it seems to me that Swiss sculptors might have some serious issues about their sexuality or have difficulty thinking out of the box. This is totally personal impression and opinion, so don't take it too seriously. Check it out yourselves, rather =)

Very plastic and detailed. Jumped out of the collection.

Willies & co. aka "Get Physical" by Mickry 3

After Helmhaus I wanted to get a second opinion about art and found my way to Löwenbrau in Limmatstrasse. Kunsthalle and various galleries are located in these premises. But no major quakes on the emotional front there either. I ended up spending ways more time in a very decent artbook store they have there than prowling through the exhibitions.

All in all I think that my "Zürich without a map"-experience was quite enlighting in the end. And it gave me sore legs by the end of the day, so one can say I got at least decent excercise out of it. And after this my in-built citymap also got bit more connected and detailed. So why heck not to spend a sunny afternoon on following your nose?

Moodflow from Zürich

I've been in Zürich since last Sunday with our latest bigNOTWENDIGKEIT production "Keep on searching for a heart of gold". We are about to have five shows here within next week, starting tomorrow.

Nothing much happened since my last entry, but since I have some time to kill, I can contaminate some innocent minds with some moodflow.

It's been pretty relaxed and easy to set everything up in Fabrik Theater. At this particular moment I'm laying on top of a pile of mattresses in the foyer and waiting for a rehearsal on a monologue to end and run-through to start. The staff in the theater are all nice and friendly and I anyway like to work with this particular ensemble.

I've made some new friends while been here. It was pretty hairy to get myself a place to stay for couple of nights in ZH, because it seems that there is a "baby-boom" among my Zürcher friends at this very moment. So, my usual accommodation options were not available. And being forced to be innovative, I ended up at Ingrid and Claudio's home. This turned out to be a very big strike of luck in the end. These people are very nice and openhearted and they serve the best coffee in Zürich, so I'm very happy that I got to know them!!!

The weather is hideous since I don't remember when. I've never experienced such warm days in the end of April and so freaking cold in all May until now. I admit without any second thoughts that I've been wearing my long-johns the whole month up until yesterday. I just hate to freeze my ass off and see no reason to do that if not forced. And all this added to the notion that Finland is the hottest region in whole Europe at the moment. Go figure, something is rotten in climate...

But anyway, having spent most of the time in a black box lately, I don't really mind. Children of the darkness, I'll say.

You are in photos, Jason - Pictures of searching

A handful of photos from my latest production in Berlin.

"Keep on searching for a heart of gold"
by bigNOTWENDIGKEIT.

Breaking the illusion.


"Who is Medea?" Different definitions.


Medea the Paragon.


The ritual. Shamanism. Magié. Myth.


Beautiful in it's death.


"Du machst es gut, Jason!" Dark waters, sea scape.


"Why are the children looking at me in that strange way?"


"I'm your cancer, your misfortune, your downfall..."


The illusion. Magic. Birdie.