In her performances Begüm Erciyas works with the strength of the voice and the act of speaking. After the successful Voicing Pieces, selected for Het TheaterFestival 2018, her new creation focuses on the experience of the voice as an autonomous medium. For although we express our personal convictions and feelings with it, in the digital era we are often in doubt of who speaks : a person or a machine ?
In Pillow Talk surprise and conviction continually take turns. Spread over a hilly landscape the audience makes contact with a most special cushion or pillow : it addresses you in an artificial voice, asks you questions and even seems to listen. How mechanical is this pillow if it also picks up emotional signals ? While conversations are built up word for word, impressions are shared, naps are taken and time passes, Pillow Talk invites you to a personal relationship with the not-human.
The Turkish Begüm Erciyas studied molecular biology and genetics in Ankara and was at the same time involved in several dance projects. She studied at the Experimental Dance Academy Salzburg (AT), is a member of Sweet and Tender Collaborations and in her work she explores the fascinating space where the intimate and the strange cross. Since A Speculation from 2014, Erciyas has been a resident at BUDA Kortrijk. P illow Talk is a co-production of NEXT Festival.
CONCEPT & DIRECTION Begüm Erciyas / SCENOGRAPHY Elodie Dauguet / LIGHT DESIGN Jan Maertens / SOUND DESIGN Adolfina Fuck / INTERFACE DEVELOPER Ruben van de Ven / DRAMATURGY Marnix Rummens / SCRIPT COLLABORATION Adolfina Fuck, Katja Dreyer, Dennis Deter, Hermann Heisig, Jean-Baptiste Veyret-Logerias / PRODUCTION & PR Barbara Greiner / ARTISTIC ADVICE David Weber-Krebs / RESEARCH SUPPORT Robert M. Ochshorn, Holger Heissmeyer, Ewa Bankowska, Jozef Wouters, Diego Agulló, Vincent Roumagnac, Taro Inamura, Michael Spranger / PRODUCTION Begüm Erciyas, Platform 0090 / WITH THE SUPPORT OF the Fondation d’entreprise Hermès within the framework of the New Settings Program / COPRODUCTION Kunstenfestivaldesarts Brussels, STUK Leuven, kunstencentrum BUDA, PACT Zollverein Essen, Centre Dramatique National Nanterre-Amandiers / RESEARCH SUPPORT wp Zimmer Antwerp, Q-O2 Brussels, Saison Foundation Tokyo / FUNDED BY Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe and Flemish Community, Ministry of Culture
