LOUIS VANHAVERBEKE /CAMPO Mikado Remix

One of the most Googled questions is ‘How to be normal?’ We all want to be as normal as possible, but how do you define that? Psychological handbooks bring the abnormalities into perspective, but they're all very vague about what normal actually is.

Our desire to be normal often has nothing to do with what is really happening inside us, but with our longing for social inclusion. We want to belong, take part in the whole, be accepted. Being normal gives us peace, allows us to be in step: preferably inside a square.

In his performance, Louis Vanhaverbeke seeks out the limits of normality. These are both figurative and literal. We build isolation cells, prisons and schools in order to set the limits to normal and be able to distinguish ourselves from the other. But to what degree does this encapsulated thinking form a threat to our freedom and our personalities? What separates a safe space from a potentially dangerous space? Who determines what belongs inside and outside the walls?

This time, Vanhaverbeke - a consummate do-it-yourselfer – sets the stage with industrial fencing, storage boxes and a fuse box. He builds, drills and stacks, while musically trying to figure out what is bothering him. By way of his DIY constructions, he expands his inner world, opens doors where there had only been barriers, windows where we had only seen mirrors. 
 



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By & with: Louis Vanhaverbeke, dramaturgy Dries Douibi, video: Freek Willems, lighting & sound: Bart Huybrechts, technical direction: Philippe Digneffe & Simon Van den Abeele, production: CAMPO, coproduction: Kunstenfestivaldesarts, Beursschouwburg, Le Phénix – scène nationale Valenciennes, European Creative Hub Residencies Malpertuis (Tielt), PACT Zollverein (Essen), Grand Theatre (Groningen), De Grote Post (Oostende), Arc – artist residency (Romainmôtier) & Pianofabriek (Brussels)

Photo © Leontien Allemeersch