From the openness and the expansiveness of End on Mouth in Den Bosch, Davids returned, in Leiden, to the compact situation of a closed space on human scale wherein the podia again had a more static position. In De VeenFabriek the space was much smaller and more intense, so Davids changed the choreography again. The boxes both lay on the floor and were raised and lowered alternately. Here the artist focused attention on the figure of one actors who emerged from the box partially to serve as a kind of pivot embodying the former architectural element, further confusing the symbolic of the classic theatrical stage.

The physical effort found its expression this time in endurance, referring to the ’70s tradition of performance art. In Leiden she questioned the tension between the gaze and the voice which led the piece into an actual discussion, for within this respect End on Mouth manifests itself as an iconoclastic longing for opening new registers.

End on Mouth
Concept: Yael Davids
Execution: André van Bergen and Michiel Kluiters
Actors: Joep van der Geest, Lotte Proot, Martijn van der Veen
Musicians: Michele Bagaglio (composition, guitar and voice), Carlos Vaquero Patricio (flute), Sonja Gruys (voice)
With special thanks to: All carriers, Marijn van der Jagt, Astrid Schumacher, Gallery Akinci (Amsterdam)