Instant City Reloaded is a project shared by the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) and today’s incarnation of Cabaret Voltaire, the birthplace of Dada in Zurich, in collaboration with Central Saint Martins. It is adapted from a concept by Archigram, the experimental architecture group from London active in the 1960s and 1970s, sought to bring together in art disparate parts of society by means of provisional performance spaces. A large delegation from Zurich will infiltrate London with their inflatable “Dada tent” for three days. Reconvening on the fourth day at the Central Saint Martins at King’s Cross, they will conduct an orgiastic 12-hour event-marathon where artists, lecturers, poets and performers from all over the world will trade metaphorical as well as physical blows inside a very real boxing ring.
The event-marathon forms tribute to the proto-Dadaist, pugilist and poet Arthur Cravan. He was the self-proclaimed nephew of Oscar Wilde and he believed passionately that art was not just a matter of the mind, but also of heart and guts.
CALL FOR ENTRIES
True to the Dadaist spirit, anyone is welcomed – no, urged! – to participate in the Instant City Reloaded creative boxing contest. This is an open invitation to London’s philosophers, artists, curators, lecturers, boxers, idlers and fantasists of all kinds to join in this joyous marathon of wit and invention.
ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS
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Be inspired by Dada or the British avant-garde architectural group Archigram
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Create a performance, an art work, a lecture or an entertaining piece that Arthur Cravan would be proud of (between 5 and 45 minutes long)
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Send your idea to icr@cabaretvoltaire.ch before 25 April 2016
Instant City Reloaded will be documented by Cast/Audiovisual Media study program of the Zurich University of the Arts with a short film of the day’s highlights. The performance marathon will be promoted on the official “Zürich meets London” social media channels. Additionally, each participant will receive a Cabaret Voltaire certificate signed in the name of Dada. The best performances will be invited to the fabled Cabaret Voltaire in Zurich on the 5th of February 2017, to celebrate the 101st birthday of Dada.
PROJECT TEAM
Prof. Hartmut Wickert, Head of Department Performing Arts and Film ZHdK, Zurich
Hayat Erdoğan, Curator & Dramaturg, Lecturer Master Theatre ZHdK, Zurich
Adrian Notz, Director & Curator, Cabaret Voltaire, Zurich
Lisa Friedrich, Dramaturg & Performer, Project Assistant, Zurich
Theres Indermaur, Stage Designer, Technical Lead, Zurich
ARTISTS ALREADY CONFIRMED
Kevin Rittberger, Dramatist & Theatre Director, Director, Germany
Stefan Burger, Artist, Zurich
Jessica Goes & Rafael Ablada, Performance Artists, Brasil
Yes Men (Mike Bonanno, Sean Devlin), Creative Activists, USA
Michael Simon, Stage Designer & Theatre Director, Lecturer Master Theatre ZHdK, Zurich
Nicholas Mortimer, Artist, London
Ian Hunter, Director, GB
Daniel Oliver, Performance Artist, London
Rosalie Schweiker, Artist, London
Michael St. Mark, Artist, London
Students from the Master of Arts in Theatre ZHdK
And many more