Heavy Hitters
In 2020 Phil Hayes returns once more to the intimate ring of the Gessnerallee Südbühne, this time with his old sparring partner John Rowley. Addressing the tragic sense of heroic shame, Phil and John will lock themselves up in the Südbühne for three weeks, afterwards presenting the three resulting performances to the public. As an absurd double-assemblage, the duo will work through the notion of persistence and on the fixed idea of having to keep getting back up and trying again: of willful stamina and enduring against all odds. In the process, they raise the question of when is it time for an aging (artist’s) body to finally quit?
An expense of emotional energy
weak knees
a waste of shame
lust in action
lost in action
love action
Phil Hayes is performance artist, actor, and musician. He regularly produces his internationally-touring works at the Gessnerallee Zürich and also frequently collaborates with other artists and groups such as Forced Entertainment, Simone Aughterlony, and many others.
John Rowley, performer, visual and mixed-media artist, is based in Cardiff where he is co-director of the performance group good cop bad cop. John has also worked extensively as collaborator and performer, above all with Welsh performance pioneers Brith Gof, Forced Entertainment, and more recently with Heiner Goebbels.
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