Work in Progress – FabriK

Artistic statement:

“In this production, we follow Joris Lapalme, a remote worker for the company FabriK. Joris is a ‘model’ employee: conscientious, adaptable, and accustomed to video conferences, tracking spreadsheets and performance indicators. His home has become his main workplace. There, he checks his emails, follows procedures and meets targets, whilst trying to ‘manage’ his health, rest time, diet and physical activity – aspects that are also managed and monitored by the company. Joris loves dancing, singing, playing sport and the colour yellow. His body is not merely a productive body: it is also a playful, curious body, filled with desires that go beyond the confines of video conferencing.

There is a second character, a voice, called Lycielle. She plays a central role. Is she an artificial intelligence? She is an off-screen presence who gives instructions, offers encouragement, corrects mistakes, suggests wellbeing exercises, rewards the worker, reminds them of deadlines and comments on their performance. She also constantly keeps track of points accumulated as tasks are completed, though we never really know what these points are for. This abstract accumulation becomes a metaphor for performance indicators, productivity and money: something that is counted, accumulated and compared, but whose meaning gradually eludes the protagonist. The relationship between the dancer and Lycielle thus oscillates between dependence, dialogue, play and resistance.

The play’s structure takes Joris on a gradual journey through his connected world. We first discover a daily routine that runs like a well-oiled machine: morning rituals, logging on, exchanges, short exercise routines recommended by the company, and the voice of ‘Lycielle’ that punctuates the day. Little by little, his movements become erratic, his timing goes out of sync, and the guiding voice becomes disjointed, glitches and grows fragile. Is reality then shifting towards a dreamlike realm—Joris’s dream—a realm where his fears, desires and resistance take shape? But will the system catch up with him in the tasks that follow, in a more subtle, more integrated form, one that is even harder to outwit?

We are interested in the space-time of dreams as one of the few places that the system cannot fully control. There, we seek another form of connection – one that is more sensitive, more human – where the body attempts to regain the initiative in the face of screens and protocols.’
– Alejandro Russo