Once in the tenth-century Danish king of England, Canute, was told by his advisers that he was so powerful he could stop the waves if he wanted to do so. To prove them wrong, he went to the beach and commanded the waves to stop. As he predicted they didn’t.
This Red Tape session seeks to reflect ways of facing the ‘system’ (political, economical, social, etc.) created by advanced capitalist society, which we have become so used to. Is it possible to subvert this system? Or should we allow this system to run its course, whilst we explore new possibilities, working in parallel on alternative systems? How can we help people to understand that we don’t have always to comply with these systems? Are there ways of changing? How can we find alternatives? And, once more, we ask can one person make the difference?
With Bill Balaskas, Ha-Joon Chang, Johannes Grenzfurthner (monochrom).
26th February, 2013; 6pm. Performance Art Lab; Stevens Building, Royal College of Art London.