You Are Here: The Maze is Back

Some at IDP might remember the YOU ARE HERE FESTIVAL (aka The MAZE), from fall 2009.   It was a month-long installation at Death by Audio in Brooklyn which put performers and audience inside a labyrinth of plywood walls for late night performances of experimental music and performance.  

The theme of the 2009 space was the Buddhist framework of the Six Realms, so the Maze was filled with gods, jealous gods, hungry ghosts, humans and animals in environments that represent different "styles of suffering" in our samsaric world.



(Jealous God Sculpture from 2009 Maze)

But the best part of The Maze for me was how it engaged the audience in participation.  It broke down the traditional relationship between performer and audience, and placed both in a bizarre and engaging space that opened up new possibilities for interaction.  Beyond the more overt Buddhist references of the six realms, this re-imagining of relationship was the most "dharmic" aspect of the whole endeavor.   What happens when you put a group of people into an "I don't know" environment?

(photo from the 2009 Maze in Brooklyn)

The YOU ARE HERE festival is returning to Brooklyn this summer, and there is a kickstarter underway to bring the maze to Kreuzberg in Berlin, Germany in September.

Best of luck to Sam and Laura (aka TROUBLE) in getting to Berlin.

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May is Arts Month at IDP.  All are invited to explore their perception, reception and creation of the phenomenal world through our various workshops, events and classes.   Full Schedule & details are available here.