Gravity accelerates our fall

“Becoming global by escaping Earth’s gravity, the ballistics of intercontinental missiles amplified military domination on the scale of a star, thus shaping world conflicts in their true dimensions. From then on strategy required an unmatched amplitude of vision, given that vision was no longer a question of site locations or regional geography but, already, of astronomy.” – Paul Virilio, Bunker Archeology afterword, 1991

“Zone of Indeterminacy” is a living sculpture-installation presented in the context of the master project “Rise and Fall”, at Art Sense(s) Lab, PXL-MAD School of Art (Belgium) Hasselt, June 2018. “Rise and Fall” examines our relationship with gravity, taking a radical approach towards our vertical condition as individuals, actors and travelers.

The performance was accompanied by a sound installation, photographs and three books: “The Act of Falling”, “Bipedal Dreams” and “Rise and Fall – The Rocket as Archetype”. The installation comprised of a large soft cushioned rocket-shaped sculpture, various performers lying on the ground, a soundscape, other small sculptures, three self published books, photo collages and wall pieces. The work has been nominated for the Wanatoeprijs –voor in actuele kunst, architectuur en design en Het Belang van Limburg– 2018.

“While existential mobility in the horizontal is dominated by a relative symmetry of outward and return journeys, vertical mobility is often characterized by an asymmetry when the descent is not simply a mirror of the ascent, but rather a fall, tragic verticality.” – Peter Sloterdijk

The work was performed at various times with different arrangements of performers: Astrid Waterinckx, Rosalie van Wambeke, Pablo Alfaro, Michalina Kurek, Maxim Renard, Karolina Pajak, Julia Scaringi, Giovanna Sarnelli, Candela Freire, Hester Vanlangenaeker, Judit Szalipszki and Kriston Levente.

Many thanks to all performers, Twan Kerckhofs, Lien Vanoppen, Robin Castelijns, Peter de Cupere and Mike Rijnierse.