conversations in ten questions 82: Thibaut Eiferman
We now hand over to Thibaut Eiferman to get to know him and HHH better...
What do you think is the essence of performance?
For me performance is a state of truth. It feels like being a vessel or container for a feeling or for a message, and the more lost I am in what is real and what isn’t, the more the truth can land.
Do you believe in the transformative power of art? In what way?
I think art is transformative in the sense that it is a teacher. I look back on what I make and I understand my fears. For an audience, it has the power to teach not with the mind but with the heart.
When you are working on a piece, what sources inspire you? Do dreams play a role in your work?
I am inspired by music the most in my processes. I find the connection of sound and body to be the one that animates me the most. It can also be a text. I find people’s voices interesting. There is a lot of movement when someone speaks. It comes from a deep place, and I like to connect to that place when I dance.
When do you decide to give a piece you are working on a title if it does not already have one?
I try to let the title appear to me. I think of it as always having been there, and it is my duty to uncover it. Just like the making of the piece, I think of it as pre-existing somewhere and I have to find it. HHH came to me from a recording of an interview with Patti Smith.
Is there an artist or person who you think has influenced your art the most? And if so, who?
Patti Smith greatly influenced me for this piece. Her attitude on art as a self-manifesting process and almost noble act, disassociated from the public and from the fame, is for me something that is a relic today. The punks and the beatniks, the movement of the 60s and 70s when people were making art from a place of urgency rather than for Instagram fame. Her conviction to her art, to rebellion, and to freedom.
Considering the current state of the world in every sense, what is the most important and urgent issue for you as an artist?
I think right now it is urgent for me to make sure we don’t all fall into trends and become an algorithm. Just because certain issues are being raised for certain communities, it does not mean every person’s story is the same. It is important to listen to individuals and not confuse political rhetoric with art. Art will always be political, but it does not operate on “yes” and “no”, and I believe a lot in the power of nuance in our overly-polarized world.
HHH is your first choreography. You first created a 30-minute short version, for which you received many awards. Then you developed it and created the long version that we will see at the Fringe Istanbul Festival. Why did you want to extend it and could you tell us a bit about the process of transforming of HHH from the short to the long version?
I always saw HHH as two stories happening at the same time. I was curious to see how this merging could take place. After finishing my solo work with the mannequin, I wanted to put my focus on others. The deconstruction of the mannequin that I researched alone made me want to deconstruct my dancing. I wanted to understand how I could enable a similar process on real people. The presence of two dancers was an opportunity for them to meet. What does it mean to meet oneself, or to meet someone else? Their transformative path out of the robotic state was a chance to make this piece not just about a person and their body, but about connection to another entity or a collective. Ram Dass says in the piece “you see yourself looking at yourself”. I wanted to tell the story of a person and their “self”, but also the story of a person and the “other”.
At the same time you are working as a dancer in different dance companies (La Compagnie Christian François Ben Aïm and Oona Doherty / OD Works), dancing in your own choreography and working on the creation of your new show. How does it all work together, are there any difficulties or conveniences?
It is a challenge for me to separate myself as a dancer and a choreographer. This piece was created as a result of this challenge. I felt as though my body did not belong to me anymore, but had traces of choreographers having been inside to leave their mark. I wanted to remember how I moved without their influence. Today I am able to set boundaries between what I give with my body and what I keep for myself, but this boundary I find is often overlooked in dance. Dancers have a capacity to receive and transpire, learn new skills and have bodies like open containers. The giving of movement or choreography should be done so with care. Today I am focusing on giving myself information, and I find it more and more difficult to go back to receiving directions on what to do with my body.
What does ‘Fringe’ signify for you?
Fringe to me means forward-thinking, outside, unable to be placed inside a category. Fringe is to me a queer concept as it is something that operates outside of normal standards. Art that is considered “experimental” or “different” simply means there is “less experimental” and “more of the same”. Fringe also brings up, through this converging of the sides, a sense of sharing and collective spirit.
Is there anything special you would like to tell the Istanbul Fringe audience before they experience HHH?
I would like to say nothing more so they can make it their own!
[The version in Turkish published in art.unlimited.]
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