Plants are in control

Do the plants need us or is it the other way around?

Vegetal Dominance: Flesh Subjugated In this visceral performance piece, Butoh dancer John Giskes challenges the traditional hierarchy of the natural world. Through a boundary-pushing fusion of biology and movement, Giskes transforms his body into a living canvas for the will of the botanical realm. The Transformation: From Fluid to Membrane The performance begins with a ritualistic process: Giskes slides into an almost liquid rubber skin, an extract harvested directly from the tree. As the audience watches, this paper-thin, elastic membrane will completely captures the dancer’s form. This is no mere costume; it is a second skin that claims the contours of human flesh as its own. The Entrapment and Surrender At pivotal moments, the struggle between man and matter intensifies. The air is sucked out of the envelope, causing the membrane to vacuum-seal around the dancer. Giskes becomes a prisoner within a void of his own making—a stilled, vulnerable object of biological capture. In this vacuum, the power dynamic shifts: The Captured Body: The Butoh philosophy of the "dead body" is realized as Giskes’ physical autonomy fades. The Floral Triumph: While the human flesh is constricted and rendered static, an explosion of color and life takes over. Plants and flowers treat the immobilized body as their foundation. A Joyful Playground What begins as a suffocating boundary evolves into a festive victory for nature. The plants hold a jubilant, sensory celebration upon the captured flesh, claiming the dancer as fertile ground—a playground where the green world reigns supreme. "I am no longer the master of my skin, but the nutrient soil for a different will." — John Giskes This exhibition invites the viewer to reconsider the fragile balance between humanity and the environment. It asks: is man the ruler of nature, or merely a temporary vessel waiting to be reclaimed by the earth?
Vacuumed together with plantsymbols