| El Colectivo de Arte la Vitrina was granted a FONDART grant (governmental funds for the development of the arts in Chile) during 2004 and 2005. The project “Status Quo,” recognized in the category of “excellence,” proposed a trilogy to comment on issues of power as a result of the political and economical structures we live in. The three acts organizing the piece were focused in what such “invisible” structures (1) have done, (2) are doing and (3) will do to the individuals that conform within our society (in hypothetical terms). As a result, the piece is also commenting on the impact that such structures had, have and will have in the communities that are influenced by such unavoidable hierarchies. |  |
Who Resists Big Brother? – Rodrigo Tisi
El Colectivo de Arte la Vitrina was granted a FONDART grant (governmental funds for the development of the arts in Chile) during 2004 and 2005. The project “Status Quo,” recognized in the category of “excellence,” proposed a trilogy to comment on issues of power as a result of the political and economical structures we live in. The three acts organizing the piece were focused in what such “invisible” structures (1) have done, (2) are doing and (3) will do to the individuals that conform within our society (in hypothetical terms). As a result, the piece is also commenting on the impact that such structures had, have and will have in the communities that are influenced by such unavoidable hierarchies.
What the piece by El Colectivo de Arte la Vitrina was actually doing was highlighting issues about the possibilities of freedom that we still have, as well as the ones that we no longer have (due to our culture of shopping and distraction). “Status Quo” went deep to revise the most vulnerable component of our hierarchical structure: the people that compose and organize our society. From the private and personal space of the home, to the public and collective space of the street, “Status Quo” questioned the way we live our life. In doing so, they highlighted the people that are behind important institutions, those that make the decisions that shape our life and culture.
The piece, as a contemporary dance piece, stated something that may seem obvious, but that is actually not all that apparent. First, movement is against a situation of status quo, dancers move most of the time consciously. Second, people do not always have a conscious sense of their movements: are their steps going forward or not?
The mechanical movement of people is far from what this piece was about. In fact, such a motion for El Colectivo de Arte la Vitrina would be a condition of status quo, and they are trying to emphasize and argue against that—against the unfortunate situation of passive people (most of the population, regular people, because of the life conditions they have: “a job”). The artists understand passiveness as a consequence of survival. In the third act, for example, the piece is only about improvisation. The performers ask the audience to contribute with their thinking and their movement. They ask: “and you…how would you like to finish this story?” Although this is way below what a real improvisation might mean, the question is deliberate so as to make the audience think while they watch the performance. In other words, the supposed “interaction of the audience with the performers” will make the onlookers recognize the situation as an example of status quo. In other words, doing but without moving anything. This is normally what all of us go through during daily life routines. We move accordingly, to survive (please understand that this is not as catastrophical as it sounds in the extreme sense of the word).
It is important to highlight here that El Colectivo de Arte La Vitrina was protesting, but not in a traditional manner (as what the Santiago-based newspaper El Mercurio pointed out in the Arts section the day of the opening night). It is important to understand that the traditional rally to resist something would act in the street and perhaps it would be composed by speeches and marches to contribute in the promotion of a certain public disorder (just to bother the enemy). A solid political and economical institution will illustrate the force of power: the enemy. Status quo was resisting a force that is not really clear where it is located, and for the purposes of communicating it clearly, the group decided to pick a monumental building that will somehow signify a lot for the people participating in Chilean society and culture.
El Colectivo de Arte la Vitrina, under the direction of Nelson Avilés, presented a piece that lasted for one week in front of the most emblematic building of Chile: El Palacio de la Moneda. The white building, in the square of La Constitución, is located in the central heart of the old traditional Chilean capital, only few blocks away from the main cathedral (the church itself another large force in a Catholic country like this one). El Palacio de la Moneda represents not only the political force but, as a result of the statistics, the economic one within the territory of Latin America. Chile is recognized internationally as a “successful” country because of the economical power that it represents. Chile is not in the first world, but, as some people say, in the second world (a developing country truly in line to get into that first world), with god only knows who constituting the third… La Vitrina is resisting the idea of becoming a first world, mass-produced country. Chileans should be proud of that, although those people still fighting to survive won’t exactly recognize this.
Status quo lies between dance and theater. As the interpreters move, they speak in strong political terms. The piece moves between daily life routines and mounted situations, displaying the unexpected, a clear characteristic of our media-infused culture. Besides the ten interpreters moving with the sound that was specifically conceived for the piece, the performance also consisted of a box of 12 x 12 x 6 meters height that converses with the La Moneda building. The box acted as a nice neighbor, and sometimes not such a very nice one. In fact, the group received a telephone call the day after opening night by someone working in La Moneda. The caller explained that the piece should be removed for security reasons. Because of the bureaucracy of the system we live in, however, the corresponding letter with the official notice took a while to arrive, and it came only after the completion of Status Quo’s week in front of the building. When the structure was finally down, no traces of this story of resistance were left: The temporary wood box resisting the power of a concrete structure. The master will be, the rebel moved on. The story will continue as what it is…Status Quo?
