ETHER
A performance and an exhibition about the detour and the instant
1987
ETHER is the title of an experiment, which takes as its points of departure Horace’s phrase ‘ut pictura poesis’ (as the picture, so is the poem) and a quote attributed to Simonides of Ceos, which calls painting silent poetry and poetry: silent painting.
Likewise, the performance utilizes the principles of composition of landscape painting with a foreground, a middle distance and a background, which are presented scenically as three parallel fields within which the four performers form various groupings.
Superimposed upon this pattern is a system of monologues, dialogues and triologues which represent basic theatrical elements. These are composed as ever-changing combinations which by themselves constitute a dramatic progression from the soliloquy, through the antagonism of dialogue to intrigue/plot – analogous to the development of a picture from surface to depths.
Based on this scheme, the Danish author Inger Christensen has written a text for constellations involving four persons.
Another aspect of the experiment is to join two trends in current theatre: the non-verbal visual theatre with its link to ‘performance art’ and the psychological theatre with its traditional conventions.
Duration 60 min.