Workpiece
23, 24 of July, 17:00, National Gallery of Art
Workpiece
Anna-Marija Adomaitytė (Lithuania, Switzerland)
Idea, choreography and performance: Anna – Marija Adomaitytė
Music and light design: Gautier Teuscher
Producer: Cie A M A
Coproducers: Emergentia – temps fort pour la création chorégraphique émergente réalisé par L’Abri, l’ADC – Association pour la danse contemporaine et le TU – Théâtre de l’Usine (Ženeva).
Duration: 35’-40’
“Workpiece” – a portrait of the body penetrated by the memories of the authoritarian regime and McDonald’s. How does the body, when affected by fatigue, begin to resist productivity? Based on the experiences of fast food service employees, “workpiece” considers work as an alienating and inevitable practice.
“I like my light green uniform, its collar and buttons up to my throat. When I wear it, I don’t feel my body ageing. Come as you are – this space is timeless and disease-free. It smells of Alpine herbs. Tender meat and pastel frozen products. Yellowish dots of sesame seeds. Only missing the blue sky. She goes to work slowly. The ice cream holder looks like metal labia. My left hand is slightly shorter than the right one. I recognise rainbow patterns in all cleaning sponges: differently coloured sponge for each WC. The time has drowned in greasy bowls. He passes by and says “smile” and… I wonder whether his children are happy? I make a saggy ponytail. Service light twinkles at 4 AM. Looks like it’s pouring cosmic energy. They cry and masturbate in the toilets. “Do you believe in magic?” Her mum came to visit. When she was serving Happy Meals, mum was waiting for her at the bus stop. Forgotten bits get stuck in shoes. It softens the walking. Golden arches on my ass. You notice the lives of others as if you were looking at them through the bus window. They secretly make photos of my colleague. Filet-o-flesh, voluntary servitude, TikTok with Mcd’s jeans, medicines for mild insomnia. Back pain is my dino, so archaic I forget to feed him. Best employee of the month smiles from the picture on the wall, between me and her there is a cloud of cheap perfume. Futures drive-thru I remember. Work consumes my body; love is stronger than hatred. It smells of Alpine herbs. She goes to work slowly.”
Born in Lithuania, Anna-Marija Adomaitytė studied Contemporary Dance at La Manufacture (Haute école des arts de la scène) in Switzerland. Currently based in Geneva, Anna-Marija is an associated artist at L’Abri – Genève where she develops a choreographic research around the standardisation of gestures and the endurance of the body. Her first solo creation, workpiece, will be presented in Lithuania, Switzerland and France. PAS DE DEUX, a new dance piece of Anna-Marija, explores how the two bodies resist against the violence of norm inside the couple. PAS DE DEUX will be presented in La Bâtie – Festival de Genève this September. In parallel of her choreographic work, Anna-Marija studies Master in Fine Arts at ECAL (École cantonal d’art de Lausanne).