Space/Time Berlin’s one night at the Sophiensaele includes two pieces by artists working in adventure narratives. Apollo 18 is a performance inspired by the optimism of the age of the space-race, ultimately rejecting nostalgia for that era in favor of a darker vision of the origins of the consumption society. Isle of Lox is an eight-part video series which follows the artists, their alter egos, and their many non-human companions as they journey through a shifting urban wasteland towards an unknown destination.

Seen together, what is striking about these two works are not their formal similarities - the two artists as protagonists, a shift from order to chaos, the lack of dialogue - but how they engage the audience so differently. With Apollo 18, the performers’ relentless enthusiasm invites us to join the never-ending party, which ultimately leaves us at a place of emotional and physical exhaustion. With Isle of Lox, the masked heroes’ journey is shrouded in mystery, but the filmmakers’ constantly shifting formal techniques leaves a powerful visual, rather than emotional, impression. Taken together as a single event, these two works raise questions not just about the nature of performance and video, but how art can affect our experience time.

Space/Time Berlin is a new platform which aims to bring together video and performance art which affects audiences’ experience of time. The inaugural program will take place in various locations around Berlin, throughout the month of April.

spacetimeberlin.com

APOLLO 18  - DEVELOPMENT, PERFORMANCE Irene Accardo, Laurent Pellissier

A production by Little strategies for instability.

ISLE OF LOX  - VON Leyla Rodriguez, Cristian Straub

photos © Laurent Pellissier, Leyla Rodriguez & Cristian Straub