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The Field

Scalable Skeletal Escalator (Theater-Modus)

Conceived by Isabel Lewis as an experimental live artwork in the form of a holobiont, Scalable Skeletal Escalator is a multi-organismic assemblage, like the human body itself, shuddering and shaking into being. This mode of operation draws inspiration from evolutionary biologist Dr. Lynn Margulis’ emphasis on cooperative and symbiotic relationships between species as the driving force of evolution. Reflecting on potential human futures, the themes of the work are continuous with its form. In line with Isabel Lewis’ practice of questioning the disembodied thought systems of the West, which deny the body of “livingness” in the deadlock of idealism/materialism, this work invites collaborators and spectator on a participatory epistemological quest to re(dis)cover the body by rehabilitating our human sensorium in order that we might enhance living rather than alienate ourselves from life.

Scalable Skeletal Escalator ​was first presented as an exhibition at Kunsthalle Zürich from September 4 to November 11, 2020. It was made possible through the collaborative efforts of Dirk Bell/Mo Stern, Lara Dâmaso, The Field (Mirjam Jamuna Zweifel, Pierre Piton, Lucia Gugerli and Declan Whitaker, in cooperation with Tanzhaus Zürich), LABOUR (Colin Hacklander and Farahnaz Hatam), Matthew Lutz-Kinoy, Rafał Pierzyński, Mathias Ringgenberg, Sissel Tolaas, Juliette Uzor, Marcelo Alcaide and Yolanda Zobel. Scalable Skeletal Escalator moved through three levels of Löwenbräukunst, where Kunsthalle Zürich is located. The work was created with the support of Kunsthalle Zürich; thanks also to Callie's Berlin and Schauspielhaus Zürich.

Concept Isabel Lewis
Custom-made speaker system Dirk Bell, Mo Stern
Performers The Field (Lucia Gugerli, Pierre Piton, Declan Whitaker, Mirjam Jamuna Zweifel), Rafał Pierzyński
Garments design Yolanda Zobel, Marcelo Alcaide
Music LABOUR
Smell Sissel Tolaas
Art works Matthew Lutz-Kinoy (courtesy of Kamel Mennour / Fitzpatrick Gallery / Mendes Wood DM)
Scenographic design Isabel Lewis, Dirk Bell
Dramaturgical advisors Tanzhaus Zürich Simon Froehling, Lea Moro
Production management Isabel Lewis Studio Stefania Palumbo
Production management The Field Leslie Philbert
Photos Maxi Schmitz

Co-production Tanzhaus Zürich, Kunsthalle Zürich, Callie's Berlin

Supported by BNP Paribas Swiss Foundation (Main Partner of The Field), City of Zurich Culture, Fondation Nestlé pour l'Art, Migros Culture Percentage, Ernst Göhner Foundation, Landis & Gyr Foundation, Department of Culture of the Canton of Zurich, BNP Paribas Corporate Philanthropy

The Field

The Field is a collective of dance artists who have been working together since 2019. The collective has collaborated with local and international artists to create a range of works from large scale performances to intimate artistic exchanges. So far, The Field has developed works with Meg Stuart (Waterworks), Isabel Lewis (Scalable Skeletal Escalator), Simone Aughterlony (The Best and the Worst of Us) and is currently developing a piece with Ofelia Jarl Ortega.

The collective came into being from the necessity to create flexible, versatile, sensitive and enduring forms of togetherness, to find ways of articulating our cultural, social and political concerns through dance experiences. Their commitment to non-hierarchical forms of working shapes all of The Field’s artistic outputs.

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