Page 217 - Únete. Join us (Bienal de Venecia, 57 edición)

APPARITIONS ThEATRE ANDREA VALDÉS
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to educate others and explain things to them, but as the art of facilitating encounters, of building alternative synchronicities and orchestrations for rhythms as well as multitudes, of finding new practices and embodiments. After all, we are not resigned to capitalism because we are convinced by hyper-consistent, persuasive ideological constructions, but out of sheer inertia”. That sounds nice, but how to alter that inertia?
III. The milky chase
We might perhaps learn something from popular festivals and celebrations, though the one example I’m thinking of right now may not be the most sophisticated. It’s an annual event that happens in Britain.
The Cooper’s Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake is a tradition of unknown origin mentioned in documents dating back to the 1800s. The event involves rolling a round of Gloucester cheese from the top of a hill and racing after it down very steep slopes. Mud, grass, and the steep incline make it very hard for most competitors to stay on their feet. They become veritable croquettes as they chase after a cheese that always reaches the finish line ahead of them! Contestants may wear masks, panda bear costumes, or national flags wrapped around their bodies. If they reach breakneck speeds, they may let themselves be intercepted by the catchers—strong blokes who try to stop the runners at the bottom of the hill, to ensure they do not injure themselves by running into people or trees. However, this does not suffice to prevent a steady number of injuries each year, from bruises to sprains and splinters... I wonder if it’s some sort of ancestral impulse that drives these people to run after the cheese. On the sides, the public cheers and applauds and takes videos that soon go viral.
Comments aside, I suppose festivals basically serve the same purpose as rites of all kinds: they create an extension of reality. They provide a space for self-purging, through consensually pre-arranged excesses that we internalize as something vital and necessary.
parpa wer: But WTF is this? troglodita: Hahaha. Now
I understand Brexxxit.
mr. sailor: All for a cheese. Testosterone unbound!
x-los-pelos: Pay attention at 00.23... R.I.P?
nosoychandler: ... I thought it was the Yankees that were assholes.
aixa78: As if people in Spain didn’t throw live goats from church bell towers.