Forced Labor Arena
A futuristic installation parcours starring robots.
PRACTICAL INFO
• We'll make sure you get a safe experience, with a safe distance between bubbles, hand sanitizers throughout the building, and the air in the venues is permanently ventilated.
• Wearing a face mask is mandatory throughout the building, also during the artist talks and expo visits. You can, of course, take it off when you're having a drink before or after.
• Exceptionally, there will be NO FOOD BAR in STUKcafé this Wednesday, due to the Artist Talks by Mircea Cantor and Siemen Van Gaubergen as part of their fall exhibition opening night. Between 18:45 and 20:00, STUKcafé is only accessible for people who made a reservation for the artist talks.
The Czech writer Karel Čapek first introduced the term 'robot' in his play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) in 1920. Though you could say ‘robots’ are only 100 years old, humans have been inventing artificial people and mechanical automatons since ancient times. Nowadays, robots are ubiquitous in society and are expected to take over more than 800 million jobs by 2030.
In Forced Labor Arena, choreographer Ugo Dehaes grapples with this evolution by applying it within his artistic process: can he replace dancers with robots? Robots are always available, they're never tired, and they don't ask for money. The audience witnesses how these robots practice hard to become dancers and gain more virtuosity. The spectators help them to become more intelligent by controlling them and judging them. In Forced Labor Arena, we glimpse a future world without human bodies. But is this where we want to go?
Credits
An installation by Ugo Dehaes | music Roeland Luyten | Plinths H[art]wood (Helder Steemans & Laura Dehaes) | Production kwaad bloed | Coproduction C-TAKT, Feikes Huis Amsterdam | Distribution Vincent Company | Thanks to Klein Verzet, Rebecca Flores, Gertjan Biasino, Marie Peeters en het AI Experience Center van de VUBLocatie
Prijs
€10 standard
€6 STUKcard / culture card KU Leuven
Bijkomende info
To be combined with Man Strikes Back
