HOW TO JUST DO IT

The princess did not know she was a princess until someone kissed her awake. The brick, the washing powder package and the bamboo stick did not know they were a chair, until someone sat on them. How to Just Do It is a three-dimensional material-centric YouTube fairytale; a low resolution studio-landscape inhabited by (not very) dangerous creatures, such as computer mouse haunting a dry toast.

Imagine a ‘life hack’ that suggests combining certain objects in a certain way to achieve a certain purpose. What purpose would you like to achieve and which objects would you use? The term ‘life hack’ refers to a method for managing daily tasks in a way which typically intends to be more efficient than a conventional solution. As pointed out by the inventor of this strategy, Danny O'Brien:“[...] it's an expression of this huge hope that you can actually hack life in this way, that you might make it a bit more bearable without having to swallow or understand the whole thing.” 

What does such a trend mean in times when you mostly have everything you need around? In this project, PYL follows a sense of a general need to break the notion of efficiency and encounter the world in another, less productive, manner. Spectators are invited to observe the backstage of a studio channel, which demonstrates various technical applications of objects oscillating between their usage and an attempt to acknowledge their intrinsic value. The performance shifts between the every- and extradaily, absurdity and abstraction. Come to join the fan base - the toast is getting cold, the towels are ready! 

PYL is an international collective of artists who devise together in the field of postdramatic  theatre, visual arts, sound and intermedia. Their practice explores the borders of anthropocentric perception in a dialog with objects and ironic attempts to grasp nonhuman agency. Through application of DIY methods, recycling and compilation principles, the group develops its own visual language, which extends the meanings of scenography far beyond the theatre stage. Their works shift cultural codes, contexts and origins of regular things, while transforming objects to beings and beings to objects. Sensitivity towards the dailiness, sharing moments and personal experiences in non-linear and playful ways transmit on the group's associative approach on coworking process. During the past years, the collective developed such projects as Holidays from the Bigger World (di.pole, z.s., 2023), Reality Surfing (2021, Alfred ve dvoře, Terén), Dead End (2019/2021, ACUD), ČBRŠK (2018, DAMU)

Performers: Světlana Silich, Maria Komarova, Veronika Svobodová / Aljoša Lovrić Krapež
Devised by: Maria Komarova, Světlana Silich, Veronika Svobodová, Anna Romanova, Aljoša Lovrić Krapež, Theresa Schrezenmeir, Susanne Kass, Pia Achternkamp
Sound design: Pia Achternkamp
Production: Karolína Schön, MOTUS, z.s.
Consultations: Cristina Maldonado, Sodja Lotker
Special thanks: úl, tep39, Real Trvth, Dominik Migač, Semen Kulikov