The Clock, Intermission, Overtime (video)

In the spring of 2020, Meg Stuart was invited by Haus der Kulturen der Welt to participate in the CC: World project. Various artists and researchers contributed personal letters, in the form of videos or essays, responding to the current state of the world. Stuart created four videos exploring our changing relationship to time in dialogue with the retro-futurist architecture of the iconic HKW building in Berlin.

In the frame of STUK START The Clock, Intermission and Overtime will be projected on the large screen of STUK’s courtyard. Get a headset on the small tribune and let the performers transport you to the dizzying white landscape of HKW's iconic rooftop.

The Clock (13’)

collaborating with clouds
to have access to that 360° view
i felt we were falling into the sky
we often said let’s not get used to this place

The Clock is an extended meditation on time and loss, a slow erasing. Movement is developed at length until it acquires a stillness and an elegiac quality. Wide-angle drone footage paints a dizzying view of the building’s curved rooftop underneath an ever-changing canopy of clouds. Five bodies are set into motion by a penetrating sound score. Reaching towards the clouds, they seem to be falling backwards into the sky. Reaching for all those that have disappeared from our world this year, unseen, they seem to be falling backwards in time.

Choreography Meg Stuart
With Márcio Kerber Canabarro, Roger Sala Reyner, Isabela Fernandes Santana, Tiran Willemse, Sigal Zouk
Costumes Aino Laberenz
Music Hahn Rowe
Camera Stephane Leonard
Editing Stephane Leonard, Meg Stuart
Production assistant Douglas Weiss
Drone footage Marcus Winterbauer
Special thanks to Paul Freeman, Isabelle Pauwelyn
Production by Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Damaged Goods
Commissioned by Haus der Kulturen der Welt

Intermission (4’)

where were we
a luminous white no place
half moon desert half simulated ski holiday on an unknown planet

Intermission moves HKW to an otherworldly setting, shaped by its remarkable rooftop. Against an undulating white landscape, bodies join, resist and become disjointed in jagged pieces and broken lines. Playing with elements of science-fiction, melodrama and myth, Intermission is a fictional reflection of what it means to wait for the unknown. The city of Berlin hovers at the edge of the horizon, adding to the sense of drama about to unfold.

Choreography Meg Stuart
With Márcio Kerber Canabarro, Roger Sala Reyner, Isabela Fernandes Santana, Tiran Willemse, Sigal Zouk
Costumes Aino Laberenz
Music Stephane Leonard
Camera Stephane Leonard
Editing Stephane Leonard and Meg Stuart
Special thanks to Mor Demer
Production by Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Damaged Goods
Commissioned by Haus der Kulturen der Welt

Overtime (5’)

i experienced this movement of clouds as operatic sublime and unpredictable with everyday new variations
what does it mean to disappear in the middle of things
how to give those shut in an experience of this place

Set to the tune of David Lynch’s electro-pop fantasy Good Day Today, Overtime playfully skirts the territories of music video and travelogue. We see a gang of people hanging out and messing around on a white expanse, part celestial playground and part wasteland. Shot during golden hour, the video draws us in through the warmth of their camaraderie and its humorous edge, but leaves a wry aftertaste. Are these people free, or are they somehow displaced in time? Are they playing games, or looking for shelter?

Directed by Meg Stuart
With Márcio Kerber Canabarro, Roger Sala Reyner, Isabela Fernandes Santana, Tiran Willemse, Sigal Zouk
Costumes Aino Laberenz
Music GOOD DAY TODAY (David Lynch)
Printed Rocks Julian Weber
Camera & editing Stephane Leonard
Production by Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Damaged Goods
Commissioned by Haus der Kulturen der Welt

GOOD DAY TODAY

Recorded by David Lynch
Written by David Lynch, Dean Hurley
Published by Bobkind Music Inc. (ASCAP)
Administered by Universal / MCA Music Holland B.V. (BUMA) Downtown Music UK Ltd (PRS)
Mixed by David Lynch & Dean Hurley at Assymetrical Studio, Hollywood
Copyright 2011 Sunday Best Recordings