Ari Benjamin Meyers
Nation of Sleep (2024)
Performance
Photo: Fortepan / Emese Bartha
Usually, adults sing lullabies to children. In his immersive and poetic musical performance Nation of Sleep, Ari Benjamin Meyers reverses this situation: part of the audience is invited to lie down and have an individual experience. Children from Graz soothe spectators in one-on-one encounters, encouraging them to relax and sleep in a world they could not prevent from falling apart. As it appears, the youngest generation might have to make sacrifices the preceding generations should have made for a brighter future.
The performance explores the metaphoric potential of sleep in uncertain, sleepless times and facilitates an atmospheric encounter between generations revolving around dreams, nightmares, fears of the future, and feelings of helplessness. Featuring a newly commissioned monologue by Tom McCarthy, Nation of Sleep invites the audience to collectively contemplate the challenges of our times and opens up a space for a symbolic wake-up call.
Ari Benjamin Meyers (1972, Long Island, NY, USA) is a composer and artist working at the intersection of music, performance, and visual art. His works challenge traditional notions of music and redefine the relationship between performer and audience. They have recently been shown at venues such as Museum Abteiberg, Mönchengladbach (2024); Kunsthalle Mainz (2024); Mudam, Luxembourg (2023); Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein (2023); Berliner Festspiele (2023); Festival d’Avignon (2023); Hamburger Kunsthalle (2022); Berliner Theatertreffen (2022); and MAAT, Lisbon (2021). Meyers lives in Berlin.
Commissioned and produced by steirischer herbst ’24
In cooperation with Volksschule Graz–St. Peter
With the kind support of Bears in the Park Art Space Vienna
Education event
20.9., following the performance
Eat and Greet
20.9., 21.9., 19:00
In German and English
Racket Sport Center Graz
Ragnitzstraße 58b
8047 Graz ♿
18/14 euros
Tickets for chairs or beds are available. For spectators with a bed, the event begins at 18:30.
We kindly ask you to come by public transport.
Duration: 70 min
Concept, composition, prologue text: Ari Benjamin Meyers
Text: Tom McCarthy
With: Bláthin Eckhardt, Hugo Le Brigand, Rudi Widerhofer, and the 2M and 3M classes of Volksschule Graz–St. Peter
Choir direction: Silvia Sammer and Fabian Schwarz
Artistic adviser: Anja Lindner
With special thanks to the parents of classes 2M and 3M of Volksschule Graz–St. Peter
The artist thanks his daughter Pearl.
Commissioned and produced by steirischer herbst ’24
In cooperation with Volksschule Graz–St. Peter
With the kind support of Bears in the Park Art Space Vienna
Education event
20.9., following the performance
Eat and Greet