Squarehead Productions (IE/DE)

A man balances a long thin stick on various parts of his body, setting it in motion. In the background, commentaries on the action light up on a screen. If the man has an agenda he keeps it to himself. The stick gets moved around and played with by the man and seems to not have much to say on the matter. Inside however it carries the weight of its own history.
The screen lurks in the background and throughout the performance commenting and putting titles on whatever the man and stick are doing, thus influencing the audience’s perception.

“Stickman” is a meta narrative which explores the concepts of meaning, agency and how stories are created, communicated, and received through language and symbols.
The performance uses techniques that create a sense of cognitive dissonance by presenting seemingly unrelated ideas together. Through a series of playful provocations, the performance challenges the audience’s sense of control and leads them to unexpected places both within themselves and with those around them.

Balance is a state of movement that is achieved through the negotiation of opposing forces. It is usually not noticed until it is disrupted, at which point it becomes extremely important. Balance is not only a physical state, but also a metaphor for the constant fluctuation between opposing states, such as life and death and stability and instability. In this performance balance is used as a way to force the body into constant motion.

“A bit of Marcel Duchamp, a bit of understatement and a bit of sensory confusion is promised by this intimate evening, which operates on several meta-levels at once, constantly (re)framing perceptions and making their and our manipulability itself a subject.” (Münchner Feuilleton, 2022)