Alexander Hacke & Danielle de Picciotto (D/USA)

Alexander Hacke - founding member and bass player of German cult band “Einstürzende Neubauten”, main figure in Fatih Akins movie “Crossing the Bridge –the sound of Istanbul”, and Film composer of movies has been collaborating with the American artist Danielle de Picciotto since 2001, together initiating performances such as “Mountains of Madness” based on HP Lovecraft stories (inviting the English trio “Tiger Lillies” to participate), “Bada Bing” a performance series presenting an eclectic mix of a new generation of Berlin bands, “The History of Electricity” an electronic performance depicting electricity in its most unusual and abstract form, and countless international workshops and conference participations on the innovative culture in Berlin.

Danielle de Picciotto was singer in the band “Space Cowboys”, founded the “Ocean Club” together with Gudrun Gut and was co-founder of the Love Parade in Berlin.

„The medieval novel “The Ship of Fools„ which is based on the image of a ship filled with fools, seafaring through the oceans of life, is a metaphor not only depicting the foolhardiness of mankind – the detailed descriptions of the different fools within the ship describe current character traits as well as ancient ones.

The timelessness of this story appealed to Danielle de Picciotto and Alexander Hacke, inspiring them to compose a show based on eleven fools described in the book, presenting the seduction of follies, their downfall and hidden assets by means of music and projected visuals.

The artists De Picciotto/ Hacke are known for being unconventional – ever involved in discovering new ways of presenting avant-garde ideas or interaction among cultures and generations. With the performance „The Ship Of Fools” it was their objective to explicate the novel by Sebastian Brant in a very contemporary spirit – emphasizing that medieval themes are astonishingly up to date politically, religiously and sociologically – mirroring them in different cultural traditions to highlight their international relevance with oriental rhythms, American sideshow and country themes, south pacific tiki aspects or Berlin underground statements. The interaction among text, music and video represents a „state - of - the – art” approach to classic literature, traditional and electronic music, art and film.

The artists present each of the 11 chapters with a short recital of Brant’s original text. After reading they illustrate the described fool with music and visuals.

Deep bass lines, scraping metal, melancholic autoharps, violent guitar riffs, bizarre sound recordings, electronic break beats, long forgotten tango tunes entwined with Hackes magnificent singing and Danielle’s mystic lyrics are illuminated by intricate projections depicting illustrated scenes of fools debauchery, burlesque dance clips and colorful tiki animations (all drawings and filming by Danielle de Picciotto).

The artists present a magical world –a dreamlike mirror of the one we are all living in –this live performance is charged with laconic humor and fantasy inviting us to not only be seduced by its follies but also be conscious of its possible downfall.

Ticket price: HUF 3000

Source: A38 Ship