Gob Squad

Sunday 16 June, 12:00 noon
Ca’ Giustinian, Venice

La Biennale di Venezia will present the Silver Lion to the collective Gob Squad.

“Anything can happen and usually everything does. Every show is absolutely unique. Danced, played, sung, their works, which leave you feeling like you have a hangover, are an unrepeatable opportunity to share passions and desires”, state the directors Stefano Ricci and Gianni Forte about the shows of the “performance warriors” (Arts Journal) known as Gob Squad, an arts collective founded in Nottingham in 1994 and celebrated at documenta X in Kassel only three years later. The directors continue in their motivation for the Silver Lion: “Their personal explorations, defined as Live Art, or better Life Art, are permeated by a sharp vision of society, in relation to contemporary urban existence, where authenticity and illusion, utopia and banality, immediacy and theatrical machines, real life and media, are constantly set on a collision course. Thus, improvising, relying both in theatres and in site-specific environments on the four Rs, the four master keys (Risk, Rules, Rhythm, Reality) to develop unexpected strategies, to surprise themselves, challenge themselves and learn to react to random events within a dramaturgy, playing with the perception of what is familiar and transforming daily life into an epic, the Gob Squad offer audiences – by inviting them to move beyond the traditional role of passive spectator – the possibility of shining as  direct witnesses and principal actors in this ritual”.

At the Biennale, the collective will inaugurate the 52^nd Festival on June 15^th at the Teatro Piccolo Arsenale with Creation (Pictures of Dorian), openly inspired by the novel by Oscar Wilde: an original reflection upon youth and the passing of time, between art, life and the cult of beauty. One of their most intriguing video installations, emblematic of their work with images of the Gob Squad, Elephants in Rooms, or 14 windows onto the world, will be on exhibit throughout the Festival in Pavilion 30 at Forte Marghera.

Gob Squad is a collective of British and German artists founded in Nottingham in 1994, when they were still attending Trent University, before moving to Berlin in 1999, where the company is based today. The seven core members – Johanna Freiburg, Sean Patten, Sharon Smith, Berit Stumpf, Sarah Thom, Bastian Trost, and Simon Will – share all responsibilities, working together on devising, directing and performing their works. Other artists are invited to collaborate on special projects. The Gob Squad explore where theatre meets art, media and real life. Everyday life and magic, banality and idealism, reality and entertainment are all set on a collision course and the unpredictable results are captured on video. In addition to theatres and galleries, Gob Squad place their work at the heart of urban life: in homes, stores, subway stations, parking lots, hotels or directly on the street. Motivated by a desire for collective experiences and authentic relationships, Gob Squad wishes to empower spectators and passers-by beyond their traditional role as passive spectators.
Their international renown has grown continually, earning them space and relevance inside documenta X in 1997. Their works, performed around the world, include: Super Night Shot (2003), Gob Squad’s Kitchen (2007), winner of the Drama Desk Award in New York, Saving the World (2008), winner of the Goethe Preis at the Impulse Festival, Before Your Very Eyes (2011), selected for the Theatertreffen in Berlin and Western Society (2013), one of their greatest hits.