The Washroom Projects Run, Baby, Run!

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The Washroom Projects (TWP) invited the audience at the next Wormhole Saloon to witness the suppressed desires and thoughts of a human society which is on the verge of suicide and constant sadistic and masochistic masturbation. The individual carries the seed of the unborn which comes to life in-between realities... Nothing, everything and something.

The performers were basically free to do what they want as long as it is in the context of the story or conept of 'RUN, BABY, RUN'. They will interact with the audience, with one another and the audio-visual surrounding which guides them.

Two members of 'staff' tried to consruct the performance inside the crowded cafeteria using tape in order to create different performance spaces and path ways leading to a specific spot inside the cafeteria where the performance would find its climax and end...

The film projection showing 'The Butcher' slaughtering 'The Baby' was directed by Eunji Kim, edited by Jay Rechsteiner and assisted by Jonathan Lahaie. Click here to see the beginning of the projection (The slaughtering). The sound which served as the accoustic background was created by Eunji Kim. As usually the performance was based on Jay Rechsteiner's initial idea and was developed by all the participants. The general direction is of course and will always be in the firm and strong hand of Jay Rechsteiner. But then again, he... well, it is actually me but I like writing in the perspective of a third person. Anyway, I am very open for suggestions and I (= he) only give directions based on mutual understanding and agreement (to a certain degree...) of all the participants. I try and I normally do include all ideas of the washroom people into a project. Thanks a lot to all, have fun and be good.

This interactive performance was by the way not suitable for children because it contained nudity, extreme violence and immoral behaviour and so on. It's just like watching telly… No real blood was spilt and no real baby was murdered for the production.

Well, and now to the real world. As usual the outcome was a bit different which is my intention anyway. I like the idea of transformation, running through a given form and change it. It was a complete chaos as a whole but there were a lot of sbtIe and silent moments inside this 'carnival or market' like artistic explosion. Paron's shadow play was like the doorway to another world of piece and silence. Or Verona's violin broke the constant sound background and talking. Well, I am not mentioning all the performers now because I haven't got a clue what they actually all did. And since it is a live performative action there is not much to talk about. It is the experience which counts. You know how boring it can be listening to someone's travel adventures...Homer Simpson would say: 'Booooring'.

I think the performance at Whitechapel Gallery was the worst TWP has ever done so far but that was the beauty of it. Before TWP there was order... And then a monster came to life. Yes, I created another monster, the last in a series of monsters. Art is a monster. I created TWP with the intention of making it a self-dynamic, organic body that does not need a strong leadership but is more based on mutual understanding and a collective mind. I managed that to a certain degree but at the end everyone seeks a leader. However, during the performance the most part of the performers go crazy and climb the highest mountains which is GOOD. They free themselves from the form (my initial idea). They start to really transform. Before you transform the environment you need to transform yourself in order to survive in a new reality. Anyway, I have decided to let baby run. It is time for me to evolve. 'Run, Baby, Run' was probably the last performance based on the basic principles of TWP. I am not sure about the future of TWP but I want it to keep. I will focus on a new baby called zeiTraum (website is still under construction. The one which you will see when you click on zeitraum is the old one which will be replaced soonish) which is a partership project between myself and Eunji Kim who is one of my closest and dearest friends and on top of that she is very talented and knows what she wants.

I want to thank all the performers for their enthusiam and power. They have been involved with TWP without any financial compensation. Thank you very much for believing in TWP. I am sure you all will be remembered in history someday as a bunch of loonies and great artists. Thank you.... Jay

The Wormhole Saloon was and will be (again) organised by Joel Cahen (www.newtoy.org). Thanks a lot, Joel.

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Jay Rechsteiner, Switzerland, project leader, performance constructor