Biennale Theatro 2024
Silberner Löwe für BASTIAN TROST mit GOB SQUAD
(,,,)“The Anglo-German collective Gob Squad, spearhead for new ways of combining media and performance that puts the spectator at the centre, has been awarded the Silver Lion. The decision was made by the Board of Directors of La Biennale di Venezia, upon recommendation by the directors of the Theatre Department Stefano Ricci and Gianni Forte (ricci/forte). The awards ceremony for the Silver Lion will be held on Sunday June 16th in Sala delle Colonne at Ca’ Giustinian, the Biennale headquarters;“ (…)
(…)“Anything can happen and usually everything does. Every show is absolutely unique. Danced, played, sung, their works, which leave you feeling like you have a hangover, are an unrepeatable opportunity to share passions and desires”, state the directors Stefano Ricci and Gianni Forte about the shows of the “performance warriors” (Arts Journal) known as Gob Squad, an arts collective founded in Nottingham in 1994 and celebrated at documenta X in Kassel only three years later. The directors continue in their motivation for the Silver Lion: “Their personal explorations, defined as Live Art, or better Life Art, are permeated by a sharp vision of society, in relation to contemporary urban existence, where authenticity and illusion, utopia and banality, immediacy and theatrical machines, real life and media, are constantly set on a collision course. Thus, improvising, relying both in theatres and in site-specific environments on the four Rs, the four master keys (Risk, Rules, Rhythm, Reality) to develop unexpected strategies, to surprise themselves, challenge themselves and learn to react to random events within a dramaturgy, playing with the perception of what is familiar and transforming daily life into an epic, the Gob Squad offer audiences – by inviting them to move beyond the traditional role of passive spectator – the possibility of shining as direct witnesses and principal actors in this ritual”.
At the Biennale, the collective will inaugurate the 52nd Festival on June 15th at the Teatro Piccolo Arsenale with Creation (Pictures of Dorian), openly inspired by the novel by Oscar Wilde: an original reflection upon youth and the passing of time, between art, life and the cult of beauty. One of their most intriguing video installations, emblematic of their work with images of the Gob Squad, Elephants in Rooms, or 14 windows onto the world, will be on exhibit throughout the Festival in Pavilion 30 at Forte Marghera. (…)
Die Verleihung findet am 16.06.24 in Venedig statt.