Imagine a city square, see it as the day unfolds: light draws its lines, people flow across. Shopping bags, cigarettes, fat bikes. Each on their way to something of their own.
Then, as if on cue, the vertical becomes horizontal: those present lie down on the square. First there are five, then nine. More trickle in: 31 bodies now. No, wait—70, 72, 73? There’s another. And another. In the end, 417 people together lie on the cobblestones.
Isn’t this strange. After all, we’re used to seeing people in the upright position, acting purposeful and productive. We trust these vertical humans to keep moving. The horizontal human on the contrary, (lying, vulnerable, out of step) might evoke a sense of discomfort, irritation even.
Who are these people?
Is that a homeless person? Someone having a heart attack? An activist?
Someone just taking a break?
And now think from the perspective of the ones lying down. They might feel what it’s like to lower themselves, to be stepped over. From the ground up, they see the sky and clouds, hear the shuffle of a foot, a soft sigh from another body nearby, the rustle of a jacket.
Johannes Bellinkx and Benjamin Vandewalle as of now are working on A Mass on the Move. From July 31 to August 4, they reside at the La Strada Festival in Graz.