The fetish is the observer
The fetish is the observer (2002) was a dance production created by Monica Emilie Herstad and her company herStay. The production opened in 2002 and has been performed in Belgrade and Brussels in addition to different Oslo venues.
The fetish is the observer by Monica Emilie Herstad shines the light on the observer.
The company says the following about the production:
"In a time of obsessive watching and publicly acceptable voyeuristic desires it is the observer, not the observed that become important
What the title The Fetish is the Observer eludes to is an obsession regarding the one who is obsessed, or a gaze returned to the watcher from a third party, a third set of viewers.
The trend of watching, peeping or monitoring is nothing new, nor is the pathology that is attributed to the distanced viewer watching an outside reality unfold; we all become the audience in Hitchcock's Rear Window, watching, the watcher.
The cultural plague of obsessive voyeuristic manners is not as empty as one may first consider, the process of watching is not as passive as the immersion that takes place at the mercy of fiction.
The culture that observes does so with a desire to view a reality, a narrative, or story in real life drama or mundane happenings.
When we focus on the observer we find a rich wealth of cultural information, most importantly the viewers need to watch a reality that does not threaten their own identity by ways of idealising the everyday.
The Fetish is the observer is above all about the innocence in being the observed."
The above-quoted text was originally in English and has not been altered in translation.
Source:
herStay, herStay.net, 22.11.2011, http://herStay.net
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Monica Emilie Herstad | – Concept/Idea |
| Monica Emilie Herstad | – Direction |
| Monica Emilie Herstad | – Choreography |
| Hicham Bouddén | – Music |
| Anette Haraldsen | – Video/Film |
| Monica Emilie Herstad | – Video/Film |
| Monica Emilie Herstad | – Video/Film (regi og utøver video) |
| Louise Peterhoff | – Video/Film (Utøver video) |
| Hans Jaran Skogen | – Lighting design |
| Alice Marie Halvorsen | – Dancer |
| Thea Bay | – Dancer |
| Marianne Haugli | – Dancer |
| Monica Emilie Herstad | – Dancer |
| Fernando dos Santos | – Dancer |
| Haavard Augestad | – Performer |
| October 24, 2003 | Show |
| August 29, 2003 – Oslo Kulturnatt, diverse scener, Oslo Culture Night | Show |
| June 12, 2003 | Show |
| February 9, 2003 – Store scene (Vika), Black Box teater | Show |
| February 8, 2003 – Store scene (Vika), Black Box teater | Show |
| February 7, 2003 – Store scene (Vika), Black Box teater | Show |
| February 6, 2003 – Store scene (Vika), Black Box teater | Show |
| Navember 26, 2002 – Studio, Kaaitheater | Show |
| October 1, 2002 – Landmark, Bergen Kunsthall | Show |
| June 29, 2002 | Show |
| June 28, 2002 | Worldwide premiere |