Polyphonic Stage [2004]

live event as movie machine
the location is used as film set, production and editing room as well as projection screen

with crew/cast
Ricardo Basbaum
Winston Belliot (aka 2Dope)
Mario Campanella
Gio Doemoeng (aka Zillion)
Corinne Gambi
Milford Kendall (aka Scep)
Maria Moreira
Imogen Stidworthy
Milica Topalovic
Ari Versluis
Florian Wüst

with spontaneous participation
of: Richilnello, Sigmar, Patrickson, Kevin, Riendy, Raily, Clay, Diangelo, Ensheline, Vienys, Giorgina, Manuela, Suki, Ferry, Karim, Claudia and others

location
School Parasite Het Beest, next to Catholic primary school Jacobus,
Hoogvliet, architect Alext van Beld, ONIX

click here to go to the website of
A Certain Brazilianness ︎



To bring A Certain Brazilianness to the set, we turned a small building callled Het Beest into a model for the spatial and social interactions, as described by Roberto Moura in his research into the House of Tia Ciata. We chose for the locally popular production of hiphop music as the basic form for the development of dialogue, text, image and sound. Hiphop itself is based on an ‘antropofagious’ spirit of adopting and digesting, whereby a very strongly coded (body) language usage works with an enormous sensitivity and space for improvisation.

Action: The space is thus arranged that several activities, ‘scenes’, take place at the same time. The central area is a podium, where an open jam session takes place, with prepared and spontaneous lyrics and beats. A conversation zone is constructed between a low, freestanding wall, and the window. This window functions as double sided projection screen. Here dialogues are set up and recorded in the form of interviews and talks. Towards at the entrance is the ‘kitchen’, partitioned off by a thin and shimmering curtain. Here all material is being checked, mixed, recorded and projected, but also the food being prepared and served. Each space is equipped with a camera and microphones, which are operated by a variety of participants in a changing order. In each scene, the crew/cast as well as guests from outside are active.



Stills


Set design by Milica Topalovic


Production still by Ari Versluis and Bas Princen