FILIP VEST & KAI MERKE – The Ruins
Performance musical with songs for a time that does not yet exist
The Ruins is a musical-inspired performance that imagines new worlds in the ruins of this one. We meet a group of beings who, for various reasons, have had to leave their homes and are now trying to create their own small, utopian community within some abandoned ruins.
The Ruins explores what it takes for us to think utopically – how song can give us a sense of community and speak directly to our bodies.
In The Ruins, the songs are the shared language that the characters attempt to create. Each brings their own melody, and together they try to find a common song that they can sing and pass on to future generations.
NB! The performance is still in development. It is presented here as an excerpt and will be performed in its full length at Metropolis in August. In this excerpt, one of the performers, Faun Vium, will sing and guide the audience through a selection of the songs and sequences. The music is composed by Francesca Burattelli and Rasmus Steenberg.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Filip Vest (they/them) explores themes such as identity, performativity, and labour through their performances, installations, and films. Vest’s works negotiate the social scripts and structures we take for granted, in order to examine whether other possible narratives and ways of being in the world might exist.
Vest graduated from the Malmö Art Academy in 2021 and has previously presented their work at, among others, SMK, Charlottenborg, Den Frie, Arken, Copenhagen Contemporary, Tallinn Art Hall, MMCA Seoul, Museum of Modern Art Zagreb, and in connection with Manifesta 13 and the 15th Gwangju Biennale.
Kai Merke co-directs The Ruins together with Filip Vest. He is the artistic director of Havet i munden, which premieres at AFUK in May. Some of his recent works include Thump Thump – a performance exhibition about place and queer voices – and We Are Animated Soil, a performance for plants.
Kai is a performance artist and dramaturg, a board member of Dance Cooperative, and is trained in Natural & Cultural Heritage Management as well as choreography at the Inter-University Center for Dance Berlin (HZT).
PRACTICAL INFO
Duration: 30 min.
Participants: 25
Age: 12+
Language: Danish
CREDITS
Direction & concept: Filip Vest & Kai Merke
Composition: Francesca Burattelli & Rasmus Steenberg
Performer: Faun Vium
Photos: Davy Denke