A cube does not exist

WE HAVE NEVER BEEN MODERN

On 16 June 2018 the production WE HAVE NEVER BEEN MODERN by artist duo Lotte van den Berg and Daan ‘t Sas premiered at Oerol. WE HAVE NEVER BEEN MODERN is part of the Expedition during one of the largest international festivals for performing arts on Terschelling until June 24th.

In an installation, a studio and in an exhibition designed by the visitor, WE HAVE NEVER BEEN MODERN, together with the audience, investigates the mutual status and relations between people, nature and the future. It is a research area where visitors can commemorate, shape and share their thoughts and feelings about our relationship with nature.

The tide, increasing water

The central image of WE HAVE NEVER BEEN MODERN is an installation on the mud flats; a cube-shaped glass space. Every day a visitor stays in this sealed glass cube on the Wadden for a few hours to undergo the constantly changing landscape. The cube, placed 500 meters off the shoreline on the mudflats, is not only an observation post, but also an observation box, a goblet in which people are studied. Instead of investigating nature like masters by placing animals and plants behind glass, we become the subject of research ourselves.

A CUBE DOES NOT EXIST

During the construction on Terschelling, the glass cube proved to not be resistant to the water pressure. Reality did not allow us to impose concepts. Due to the variable water pressure, the enclosed tight space eventually leaked water. A cube, as initially conceived, does not exist; if it really becomes, it is a vulnerable space and we are put to the test by the vagaries of the Wadden Sea Region.

Visitors such as Caspar van Gemund (European Endless Express / Club Interwarster), Arjan Berkhuysen (former director Waddenvereniging – now director World Fish Migration Foundation) and Marjolijn van Heemstra (writer, poet, theater maker) will be placed in the cube investigate their relationship with nature.
Minister of Education, Culture and Science, Ingrid van Engelshoven, visited WE HAVE NEVER BEEN MODERN on Monday, June 18th, and during her visit she was also placed in the cube.

Experiences and observations of the visitors are shared during and after Oerol at http://wehaveneverbeenmodern.nl

MAKERS

WE HAVE NEVER BEEN MODERN was developed by Lotte van den Berg and Daan ‘t Sas in collaboration with, among others, scenographer Anne Habermann, urbanist Arie Lengkeek and multimedia specialist Willem Weemhoff.
Earlier, Van den Berg and ‘t Sas developed the ongoing project Building Conversation together.
WE HAVE NEVER BEEN MODERN is a production of Third Space in co-production with Oerol and made possible by Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds and Stimuleringsfonds Creatieve Industrie. WE HAVE NEVER BEEN MODERN is inspired by the work of philosopher Bruno Latour.

WE HAVE NEVER BEEN MODERN – OEROL

June 16 – 24 2018 11:00 – 17:00 h.
Location: Oosterend, at the end of the Perkweg near the Waddendijk.
Terschelling, Netherlands

Photography / Willem Weemhoff