Steven Michel & GRIP

Steven Michel is fascinated by how every new technology throughout history has been a cataclysm for the emergence of new ways of thinking and imagining oneself according to otherness. From Steven’s point of view, technology encompasses multiple experiences, such as drawing in a cave, starting a fire, hearing a voice but not seeing the body, reading a message being written on air, creating virtual identities over existing physical bodies, feeding a virtual pet, poking someone, as well as speaking with the dead, awakening ghosts and personal memories in order to move forward … . He sees the virtual and the ritual as two concepts that are not really far from each other, and considers them to be coexisting in liminal spaces.

DATADREAM is a new solo by and with Steven in which he explores how technology affects the body and the psyche in relation to reality, spirituality and alterity.

Conceived as a cyberdelic experience, he invites us on a very personal, physical and spiritual journey, which unfolds within a multimedia environment interacting in real time. Using visualization, as well as the voice and the body, Steven orients himself through altered states of consciousness, mental maps, flowing identities and speculative fictions, in order to literally stretch and fold the boundaries of the self. A techno-archaic environment takes shape under our very eyes, haunting us with the idea that humans have always been travelers who access parallel worlds through the mind and the collective unconscious, therefore creating their own reality. In a world that more and more demands subscription, registration and tracking, can one not step away and experience again the pleasure and joy and danger to trespass into completely virtual, imaginary and invisible realms?

With DATADREAM, Steven continues his trajectory as a maker into interdisciplinary collaborations, inviting artists working with light, sound and video media, to join this shared and immersive experience.

CREDITS
CONCEPT AND PERFORMANCE: Steven Michel
SOUND AND MUSIC COMPOSITION: Raphaëlle Latini and Mathieu Bonnafous
VIDEO DESIGN: Laetitia Bica
LIGHTING DESIGN: Jan Fedinger
COSTUME DESIGN: Valérie Hellebaut
DRAMATURGICAL ASSISTANCE: Lynda Rahal
ARTISTIC ADVICE: Théo Mercier
OUTSIDE EYE: Jan Martens
VIDEO SOURCE MATERIAL: Laetitia Bica and Steven Michel
VIDEO EDITING: Jan Fedinger and Laetitia Bica
TECHNICAL DIRECTION: Nele Verreyken
PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT: Sylvie Svanberg
PRODUCTION: GRIP
INTERNATIONAL DISTRIBUTION: A propic / Line Rousseau and Marion Gauvent
RESIDENCIES: Montévidéo (Marseille, FR), WorkSpaceBrussels (BE), Le Gymnase CDCN Roubaix Hauts-de-France (FR), wpZimmer (Antwerp, BE) and CAMPO (Ghent, BE)
COPRODUCTION: CND Centre national de la danse (Paris, FR), C-TAKT (Limburg, BE), Le Gymnase CDCN Roubaix Hauts-de-France (FR), wpZimmer (Antwerp, BE), CAMPO (Ghent, BE) and Perpodium (BE)
WITH THE SUPPORT OF: the Flemish Government, the City of Antwerp, Tax Shelter of the Belgian Federal Government and Cronos Invest

This project is supported through the framework of cultural cooperation between the Flemish Community and the Region Hauts-de-France

Photo: Laetitia Bica

For more informations, press map, financial and technical conditions please contact Line Rousseau or Marion Gauvent