The Thousands

Ok so this is a little bit complicated. But if you can commit to it I think it might be worth it. There is a show at the eAaf. And the second half of the show is at Queen’s Theatre. You follow thus far? And this Saturday there is a series of spoken word performances with Aleks Danko and Jude Walton at the Botanic Gardens. Except the performance isn’t in one place. It takes place incrementally at different locations in the Botanics. Then from after dark at Queen’s Theatre there is another performance. Phew.

duetto is another survey-type brainchild conceived by aEaf director Domenico de Clario. The show is spread over four venues with more than twenty pairs of artists working in collaborative ‘duettos’. It’s not exactly a self-evident kind of exhibition – each of the pieces require a little bit of time and cerebral gymnastics to grasp. I don’t think this complexity is just for the sake of it – when your subject matter is essentially collaborative human relationships you are bound to encounter some kind of confusing mess. Think about it. The Botanic Gardens might be a good memory trigger. Don’t you remember cavorting around the lily-pads when you were seventeen and ‘in love’? And don’t you remember the ensuing disarray and horror when you realised that human relationships are basically a subtle and damaging form of bloody warfare? It’s really no wonder duetto is confusing.