Madness and Desire in Mexico City

Per Huttner, Carima Neusser and Alcibiades Papacostas will be showing a new embodiment of the performance “Transversal Madness” at El Dia D in Mexico City. The piece will be shown on January 31 (20h30) and February 1 (19h).

The performance mixes music, film and dance in unusual and creative configurations. The piece takes its inspiration from a painting by Swedish 19th century painter Carl Fredrik Hill and investigates different forms of insanity and how historical, social and political ideas inform our understanding of the phenomena. The relatively slow tempo of the piece allows the spectator to reflect on how madness can be re-considered and to challenge his/her conception of the world. Hill’s painting also forces the visitor to re-evaluate how he/she sees desire, especially when insanity removes the social inhibitions that often repress our desires.

The artists find in the investigation useful tools to understand the current social and political climate and especially asking if pathological desire to control the world and the people in it, constitutes another form of socially acceptable madness. The presentation is produced by Vision Forum and supported by the Swedish Arts Council.