Out of the Blue
Silke Huysmans & Hannes Dereere / CAMPO
‘We know more about the surface of the moon than we do about the bottom of the ocean.’ This statement is often heard when talking about the deep sea. Worldwide, only ten percent of the ocean floor has been mapped and explored. At a moment in history when the planet we live on seems to have been explored extensively, some places remain unstudied and untouched.
After their acclaimed performances Mining Stories and Pleasant Island, Silke Huysmans and Hannes Dereere present the final part of their trilogy on mining. This time they focus on a completely new industry: deep sea mining. With resources on land becoming increasingly scarce and overexploited, mining companies turn towards the ocean.
In the Spring of 2021, three ships gather on a remote patch of the Pacific Ocean. One of them belongs to the Belgian dredging company DEME-GSR. Four kilometres below the sea surface, their mining robot is scraping the seabed in search of metals. On another ship, an international team of marine biologists and geologists keep a close watch on the operation. A third ship completes the fleet: on board of the illustrious Rainbow Warrior, Greenpeace activists protest against this potential future industry.
From their small apartment in Brussels, Silke and Hannes connect with the three ships through satellite. Each of the ships represents one pillar of the public debate: industry, science and activism. Through a series of interviews and conversations, an intimate portrait of this new industry emerges. The piece is an attempt to capture a potentially pivotal moment in the history of the earth. How much deeper can mining companies dig, and what are we as humankind actually digging towards? What are the challenges and risks? What opportunities potentially lay ahead?
Out of the Blue premiered at the Kunstenfestivaldesarts on May 19, 2022.
In English with Dutch subtitles / duration: 60 minutes
press
We know more about the surface of the moon than we do about our own oceans, and yet technology takes us where we have never been before
Out of the Blue is a quiet, contemplative performance that sinks us 4,500 metres below the Pacific ocean.
In this critical attitude lies the strength of Out of the Blue. Unlike what you might expect in theater, Huysmans and Dereere don't draw plenty of emotion and identification in this performance (although they do allow them to).
This room is designed multimedially so precisely that the audience is immersed in the silence of the deep sea. An atmosphere of attention where quiet inner voices can be heard instead of quick answers.
While on land the nickel and copper are running out, deep in the sea there is still a lot on the bottom. Companies are eager to dive the metal; Greenpeace is adamantly opposed. Silke Huysmans and Hannes Dereere tell the story from all sides
Out of the Blue by Silke Huysmans and Hannes Dereere is an example of a different, yet equally poignant socially engaged show.
Out of the blue highlights the paradoxes and contradictions of an increasingly discussed subject and introduces a new form of documentary through an aesthetic and scientific performance.
Out of the Blue, an all-digital show with resolutely ecological ambitions, tells the story of an immersive ocean floor, threatened by deep-sea drilling and our relentless drive to plunder the environment.
Between the (willingly) chamois-sweet music accompanying the ecological promises of the greats and the most lovely videos of deep-sea creatures, menace seeps through. Despair settles deep into your fibres.
The idea that deep-sea mining does not yet exist and that it may exist fascinates us to think about the present and the future (…) In Out of the Blue, many themes that we find interesting come together.
In Out of the Blue, they go a step further, looking at a future in which the oceans also become one big mine
Out of the blue excites enough to want to read more about the subject immediately
After the land, will we now be robbing the ocean? In conversation with scientists, companies and activists, the duo tries to find it out
Mining on the ocean floor? It's far from science fiction, shows Out of the blue
Their approach is both documentary and spectacular, through a dramaturgy that is chiselled, ambitious, rigorous and very humble
credits
by & with Silke Huysmans & Hannes Dereere dramaturgy Dries Douibi sound mix Lieven Dousselaere outside eye Pol Heyvaert technique Korneel Coessens, Piet Depoortere, Koen Goossens & Babette Poncelet production CAMPO coproduction Bunker (Ljubljana), De Brakke Grond (Amsterdam), Noorderzon - Festival of Performing Arts and Society (Groningen), Zürcher Theater Spektakel (Zürich), Beursschouwburg & Kunstenfestivaldesarts (Brussels), PACT Zollverein (Essen), Théâtre de la Ville (Paris) & Festival d’Automne à Paris (Paris) residencies Kunstenwerkplaats, Pilar, Bara142 (Toestand), De Grote Post, 30CC, GC De Markten & GC Felix Sohie special thanks to John Childs, Henko De Stigter, Patricia Esquete, Iason-Zois Gazis, Jolien Goossens, Matthias Haeckel, An Lambrechts, Ted Nordhaus, Maureen Penjueli, Surabhi Ranganathan, Duygu Sevilgen, Joey Tau, Saskia Van Aalst, Kris Van Nijen, Vincent Van Quickenborne & Annemiek Vink thanks to all conversation partners & the people who helped with the transcriptions