HYBRIDATION
Olivier de Sagazan (FR)
(National Premiere)

«I am still not sure of the limits at which the body of the human self can stop»
- Antonin Artaud -

Two characters sculpt clay on their heads, burying themselves in the material, nullifying their identity and becoming living works, transmuting themselves with each other’s body, creating a dialogue, a fusion, a rivalry, a love. They oscillate between puppeteer and puppet, while being aware that identity is constructed in relation to the Other. But when they are blinded by the material, they are forced to look inward, to the depths of their own Self. In a mesmerising, expressive, and total performance, they change their identity on stage, from man to animal, from animal to various hybrid creatures. They pierce, erase, and unravel the layers of their faces in a frenzied, uninhibited pursuit. Painting and sculpting oneself become a form of ritual between dance and trance, where improvisation is the core component.

Olivier de Sagazan presented Transfiguration at fimp in 2020. According to the artist, that was the first time he performed since the pandemic started and restrictions were put in place. Returning now to this artist’s work, particularly to this duo performance, with its powerful and disturbing plasticity, is also, even if unintentionally, a way to look at the world and the merciless disquiet of the present moment.