DAU – World première

by Abdón FLORES

It would be complicated to define a such ambitious project as DAU. The easy definition is: DAU is an homage to Lev Landau, a Physics Nobel prize in the early 60’s. But otherwise, DAU is a majestic performance like those mentioned –or invented– by Borges in one of his short stories where a whole town is involved. An intersection of film, science, performance, spirituality, social and artistic experimentation, literature and architecture, it was created by Russian director Ilya Khrzhanovsky when a fictional feature film evolved into a multidisciplinary epic project bringing together hundreds of voluntary participants secluded from time and space.

 

 

From 2009 to 2011, in Kharkov, Ukraine, an Institute for research in Physics was built and populated by hundreds of carefully selected participants. Sent back into the past, they lived, worked, dressed, undressed, loved and hated one another, just as their forebears had in the Soviet Union. From the uniforms they wore to the language they used, their existence was governed by a set of strict rules. This unscripted life was filmed intermittently for the whole duration of the experiment. And that was DAU, 700 hours of film an ever–expansive, unlimited project, an inexhaustible exploration aiming to explore the human soul.

Now DAU is revealed to the public. The world premiere takes place in Paris in 3 major venues: the two city theaters –the Théâtre du Châtelet, the Théâtre de la Ville– and the Centre Pompidou. The two theaters, under renovation, suspended in time and space just like the Institute was, are a special space, which one can only enter after requesting and obtaining a visa, and temporarily abandoning belongings at the entrance. At the Centre Pompidou, an exceptional installation recreates the immersive experience of the Institute, during the time of the event.

 

 

There are three types of visas: A1 (six hours, 35€); S1 (24 hours, 75 €); and M1 (unlimited access, 150 €). The visa request process is strict, and in certain cases it includes a psychometric questionnaire whose answers are treated by an algorithm in order to create each visitor’s personalized journey. The experience is multi–sensorial and total: world premiere screenings of the DAU feature films, one–on–one interviews with wise men and women, conferences on theology, quantum physics or geopolitics, promenade in a space inhabited by an original music soundtrack… DAU will go from January 24th till February 17th, day and night, non–stop.