ROOM 100 – photo by Josip Bolonić
ROOM 100: (Antonia Kuzmanić, Jakov Labrović) (HRV/ESP)
C8H11NO2 (2.0)
ROOM 100’s performance invites the “audience-of-one” to reflect on their role in shaping—and being shaped by—others’ identities, questioning how individuality is formed and how others impact our identity, mental health, and sense of self.
How did you come to create this piece?
This one-to-one art is a derivation from our contemporary circus performance called C8H11NO2 (2.0). The performance’s name is the chemical code for dopamine, a neurotransmitter in the brain that goes wild when a person enters a psychotic state of consciousness. The performance is inspired by the intimate story of the director Jakov Labrović and his brother, a person who has been living with a diagnosis of schizophrenia for more than 40 years. The performance is directed not as a description of mental illness on stage, but as a representation of a wide range of emotions that people with an altered state of consciousness go through and the physical reactions of people close to them.
Description of the work: What happens in it?
At the heart of our one-to-one performance is an installation in which the artist becomes both subject and object of an interplay between “audience of one”, environment, and mechanized control. The artist is physically tethered to a system of fishing lines connected to electric motors.
The “audience of one” takes control of the motors in this durational performance. We are inviting the “audience-of-one” to confront her_his_their role as participants and witnesses in the construction – and deconstruction – of identity. To what extent does each person in our life influence our current identity and the state of our mental health? To what extent our individuality is our own?
What does one-to-one art bring to you as an artist?
For us, one-to-one art turns passive observation into active participation. Here, the encounter is immediate and intimate, it is an interaction that blurs the boundaries between autonomy and submission, agency and objectification, creating a hauntingly beautiful dialogue about the forces that shape us. It’s raw, unpredictable, and deeply human.
Who is the one you wish to experience your work?
We imagine our ideal viewer as someone open to lean into the unfamiliar, willing to pause and to let an artwork resonate in their own way. Someone open to moments of quiet revelations and introspections. Whether they’re seasoned performance art lovers or skeptics who ‘don’t get’ performance, we’re curious about the dialogues that unfold when someone truly meets the artist(s)…
Greetings from you, the artist, to the visitors of the festival
To every visitor at Kehäfestivaali: Thank you for stepping into this world with us. ROOM 100 performance is a shared experiment—a place where your presence completes the work. Whether you leave stirred, unsettled, or grinning, we hope the encounter lingers. See you in the ROOM 100!
The work will also be shown at the One-to-One Festival in Oeiras, Portugal in November.
ROOM 100: C8H11NO2 (2.0)
Kehä Festival 17.10.-18.10.
Friday
17–18:30 non-stop
19:30–21 non-stop
Saturday
14:10–16 non-stop
17–19 non-stop
19:00 Kehä-Talk: Artists interviews and artworks.
