STYKS
June 29, 2019
Kamenny Island Theatre St Petersburg
Video-installation and composition for six performers in collaboration with Daniil Borisov.
Concept and creation: Alexey Kokhanov and Daniil Borisov
Experimental program “To Stage” Great Drama Theatre, curated by Vera Martynov
Performers: Julia Kravchenko, Nika Nikonova, Dmitry Otyakovsky, Roman Mikhaschuk, Philipp Guzeev, Timofey Balin
Duration 30 min.
In STYKS authors represent /demonstrate the results of psychogeographic research of the water map of the city through the prism of the mythological afterworld of ancient Greece. There were five places was chosen according the quantity of rivers of underworld. the authors intentionally avoid the semantic coincidence of locations, any similarities should be considered more broadly. Substitution here is needed to sharpen the perception of the viewer and the purity of the sensation - to feel the distance and at the same time recognize - to give the location sacred, a chthonic connection with the unconscious past (deja vu).
The initial subject "Waterfront" suggests the study of water as an urban space. Due to the disadvantageous location in terms of climate, the construction of St Petersburg was carried out under the constant threat of floods. Thus, the city’s architecture embodies the idea of conquering the elements, and it was these locations that the authors chose. The sound landscape of ecologically damaged spaces is reproduced vocally in lifetime of performance vocally by six actors.
