Hedonia
Shortlisted 2023
THE PROJECT / Hedonia is a contemporary circus creation that reflects around the idea of postmodern pleasure. A dialog in between the absurd, the immediate satisfaction and the controversy of happiness. Eight by four meters of artificial grass, behind it the landscape continues on a big screen. Two people are laying on the grass, ‘it is a perfect day’, yoga in the field, the smell of the forest, a bird that comes out from a hologram. Two bodies are balancing and floating. Techno, sexuality, the dog upside down and the happy cat. A dystopia, a disconnection, loneliness and pleasure. Cables, wireless connections, microphones and a camera. A minimal stage is built up with plastic nature and technology. In the end, can we imagine we are somewhere else? Did our hunt for Hedonia succeed?
Moritz Grenz graduated from Fontys Academy for Circus and Performance Art in Tilburg, (NL) (2018). His main discipline is tight wire. In addition to circus, he is involved with rap music and sound engineering and combines these elements to artistically negotiate socially relevant issues. In his work Moritz is developing new settings and formats for the circus, connecting it with digital tools, architecture and art in general.
Clara Cortés graduated in Fine Arts from the Universitat de Barcelona (2013) and in Fontys Academy for Circus and Performance Art in Tilburg, (NL) (2018). Her circus discipline is trapeze. Clara´s work is interdisciplinary and with her background in Fine Arts she brings new and innovative impulses into circus. She is operating with digital tools and social media and feels home in the current art flow.
The willingness of creating new aesthetics in the circus and working with the latest tech possibilities is connecting them for the project Hedonia.
