Nikolaas Demoen & Luc Derycke: Perform Position Play

Nikolaas Demoen and Luc Derycke read from their own work.

Perform, Position, Play was conceived as the script for a dialogue between two actors. It holds what seems short paradigms from the world of art or the artist’s universe. Existing of three words each, following the thesis – anti thesis – synthesis model, they can be performed as civil, rational conversation. Equally composed as a sound piece, they can be performed as poetry, or rap. As a reader, they can be projected as a film or shown as a video or be published in a book. As works of art they can be printed and framed. Mixing iconic words from art history with tongue-in-cheek references , observations on daily life, and artists’ slang, the paradigms form a semantic maze with no other purpose than perform, position and play -ay -ay.

Demoen and Derycke have had long and hybrid careers in the worlds of art and media. Their triangular serve-and-volley has both depth and freshness, melancholy and playfulness: a book of stories, each condensed in 3 words.