performance | duration 60 min

c/o ZONA K, admission allowed with membership 2024

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In this digital conference that doubles as a demonstration and confession, Simon Senn, a videographer and visual artist from Geneva, demonstrates how the virtual world and the real world are not always in opposition, revealing the unexpected entanglements between technology, representation, gender, and law.

Simon Senn’s experience began when he bought the digital replica of a female body online. He then went in search of the woman whose body he was « virtually » inhabiting. Onstage he conveys this disturbing experience to the audience.

After downloading the replica (a detailed and evidently accurate reproduction), he brought it to life with easily purchased sensors and discovered what it felt like to « have » a female body – at least through his 3D glasses. The experience was moving. Who is this woman ? Can he do anything he likes with this digital body ? What about the new and enjoyable sensuality this virtual form offers him ? He managed to track down the young woman and begin a discussion with her (one that continues today), where together they investigate this third digital body that exists between them. Arielle is now part of the project and is present in the show.

Simon Senn decided to consult a psychologist and explore his feelings of «gender disturbance », which continue to surprise him – does he perhaps suffer from « Snapchat dysmorphia », the clinically accepted psychological illness of those who wish to transform themselves in order to resemble their online image?

conception and direction Simon Senn with Simon Senn, Arielle F. and a virtual body production Compagnie Simon Senn co-production Théâtre Vidy-Lausanne – Le Grütli, Centre de production et de diffusion des Arts vivants – Théâtre du Loup distribution and tour Théâtre Vidy-Lausanne with the support of Porosus – Pro Helvetia – Fondation Ernst Göhner – Pour-cent culturel Migros – Loterie Romande

Photo from simonsenn.com

Born in 1986, Simon Senn is an artist and theater director, and lives in Geneva. He obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Haute école d’art et de design de Genève and a Master’s degree from Goldsmiths College in London. At first glance, his work seems to suggest that he is a socially engaged artist, speaking out against a certain type of injustice. However, his works sometimes reveal a more ambiguous approach, exploring aporias rather than articulating addressed criticisms. Even if his videos or installations are normally based on a certain reality, fiction is often mixed in. Be Arielle F is his first proposal for the stage, with which he received the second Prix d’encouragement pour les arts de la scène Premio in 2019. During the health crisis of 2020, a live stream and adapted version of the show was offered digitally by the Théâtre Vidy-Lausanne. In 2024, he collaborates with Indian dancer Rohee Uberoi to capture and encode the movement of Bharata natyam in their projet Rohee, to be shown in Vidy.