HAPPY HOUR

Degree of freedom (DOF) is a term used in robotics to describe the mobility of rigid bodies. To be fully mobile, a body must have six degrees of freedom. Three are for displacement, three for rotation. A robotic arm has 3-8 degrees of freedom, a humanoid robot Kengoro 174. Human 244.

Jan Mocek´s latest performance is, as usual, inspired by current social events and the general acceleration of the coming changes we are forced to adapt to. The starting point for the theatrical essay on the topics of "artificiality"; and "intelligence" was an exploration of the concept of "degrees of freedom" not only in the literal, physical sense, but also in the figurative sense of the limitations that mentally and socially restrict people.

The performance, which moves between minimalist choreography and visual theatre, opens up a strangely dystopian world for the audience. A space that resembles ours, but at the same time is something else: it does not distinguish between the artificial and the real, the robotic and the human, the living and the inanimate. Everything is part of an infinite, ever-changing composition and structure that moves between simplicity and complexity, order and chaos.

Against the backdrop of heated debates around artificial intelligence, the anthropomorphisation of bots and the advancing automation of human labour, we invite the audience to a happy hour of theatrical meditation on the possibilities of the human in an era of ending human exclusivity.

Concept, direction, set design: Jan Mocek
Created with: Tinka Avramova, Irina Andreeva, Pierre Lac
Cast: Tinka Avramova, Irina Andreeva, Arseniy Mikhaylov
Music: Matouš Hekela
Sound, lighting: Ondřej Růžička
Consultations: Sodja Lotker
Production: Táňa Švehlová, SixHouses z.s.
Photo: Martin Špelda

Premiere: 30. 10. 2023, Alfred ve dvoře, Praha

Jan Mocek is a theatre maker and visual artist based in Prague. In his performances, he mixes elements of pop culture, politics and personal experience to speak about times we are living in. At the same time, he offers his audience an emotionally atmospheric and strongly sensual experience.

Virtual Ritual (2019), I am the Problem (2020), Present: Perfect (2021), Landscape with Pheasant Hare and Doe (2022) are his latest performances, presented nationally and  internationally at festivals and venues such as Komuna Warszawa, Fast Forward Dresden, Rehearsal for Truth NYC, Submerge Digital Arts festival Bristol or 4+4 Days in Motion Prague to name but a few. Jan Mocek is a member of IN-SITU - European Platform for Artistic Creation in Public Space. SixHouses is a production platform lead by Tana Svehlova and provides complex production support for Jan Mocek´s projects.