Not waterproof ou l'érosion d'un corps erroné
There is assuredly a set, a sky blue rectangle, a few transparent jars that have escaped from an anatomical cabinet, waiting for who knows what monsters. There are assuredly sounds, an atmosphere, a stage, all distilling an anxiety-provoking strangeness. But the essential element of this proposal lies in the sole body that moves, transforms itself, is forgotten, in front of us, at the centre of our view. As though it were undergoing rites, trials, experiences, it morphs upon contact with matter, through concrete but indefinable actions, incorporating the sound, light and visual ambiences. It crumbles, erodes, evoking the fragility of every being in the world. Each spectator sees what he wants in it, reinvents the play with the unfolding poetic incarnations of the artist who literally installs an erroneous body before the public. “The abstraction of Not Waterproof is an invitation to the public to be creative.” And this is what Julie Andrée T. jotted down on her working notebook.
OVERALL CONCEPT AND PERFORMER Julie Andrée T.
CREATED IN COLLABORATION WITH Jean Jauvin and Laurent Maslé
MUSIC BY Laurent Maslé
LIGHTING DESIGN Jean Jauvin
PHOTOGRAPHER Guy L’Heureux, Vicky Sabourin
PRODUCTION Julie Andrée T.
COPRODUCTION Théâtre La Chapelle
WITH THE SUPPORT OF the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER Marie-Andrée Gougeon for Daniel Léveillé danse
“ ... her movement/performance work, which avoids cute at all costs, is contemplative, confrontational and unmissable.”
- Hour, Review of Year 2009, Montreal.
“As can be expected with performance art, the body is at the core of the work. Julie does not have the grace of a dancer, but it works in her favour. When she puts her body through repetitive motions, it looks strenuous, her hard breathing becoming more and more audible.”
- Indyish.com, Montreal.
“We see Julie Andrée T. actively engaging herself in an action, but as soon as we understand the meaning and the form of the action in the sequence, we also understand that the stakes are no longer the same : meaning has become secondary, all that counts is the action that must be brought to an end despite all the obstacles. And here is the artist, body and soul, subjected to an obligation from which she will be free only once it is fulfilled. These moments are obviously difficult for the spectator who, by empathy, begins to wait, to hope for the liberation of the executant. It is this aspect, considered as masochistic, that creates the most misunderstandings in the work of Julie Andrée T., all the more so that the artist, in her first performances, imposed upon herself very demanding physical tasks that sometimes led to injuries. In fact, her work is not masochistic in the popular sense of the term, since the position she occupies is never truly passive or submissive. Even pain is not an important issue in her work ... Julie Andrée T. is always going beyond her ordeals, and the control is therefore never lost ...”
- Magazine Spirale, Montreal.