Pure Performance

“Every second that passes between us should be a clean second”

(Jaka Lah)

Pure Performance problematises form as a basic tool of artistic expression. Jaka places himself and the viewer in the position of prisoners of form: “I want us to be clear from the beginning. I don’t care where you come from. I don’t care if you wipe your ass with paper or if you don’t even piss shit behind you. It doesn’t matter that we like each other, what matters is that there’s no shit between us. This is pure performance. Every second that passes between us should be a clean second.” But no thought exists in its pure form, it is always mediated through a form. And that is why it can quickly turn into its own opposite – or, in the diction of performance, into plain shit. The way Jaka tries to grasp this short-circuit between the thought, the spoken and the understood is through negation. We find ourselves in a situation of mental silence and toilet paper.

Pure Performance

2009 • Via Nova
Solo performance • 50 min

Concept — Jaka Lah, Bojan Jablanovec
Text and direction — Bojan Jablanovec
Performer — Jaka Lah
Producer — Špela Trošt
Production — Via Negativa