The Highlights of 'Demarcation

Kok & Deiman: The Highlights from Kok & Deiman on Vimeo.


In the middle of the night the performance is broadcasted on the Romanian television. Two men in sport uniforms are placing colored wooden pieces on and around a board. Beautiful moves, complex footwork, and an analysis of a crucial moment in the game are captured in this summary. The men are playing on a board that derives from a copper engraving of a city plan, designed by religious maniac Richard Brothers. During the broadcast the biography of Richard Brothers, told from a first person point of view, scrolls across the bottom of the screen. The broadcasting closes with an outline of others results and the standings in the Demarcation league.

The performance and installation 'Demarcation; A Description by R. Brothers' is centered around a wooden board which is divided into small sections of equal size. During the performance, a variety of colored wooden pieces is placed on and around the board. The actions of the performers, who place and move the pieces on the board, create unexpected mechanical sounds. This way a composition of colors, lines and sound is obtained. Between the performances, the outcome of the game and its environment is left as a static installation.


The installation can be seen as a strategic game, of which the rules remain obscure to the audience. This obscurity gives the audience the freedom to discover their own correlations in the actions and choices the performers have made. Furthermore the installation adapts, ridicules and abstrahizes various codes of sports and games, transforming the white cube into an abstract gaming arena.


The origin of the performance and installation derives from a copper engraving of a city plan. This plan was designed by religious maniac Richard Brothers to illustrate his radical visions for his book "A Description of Jerusalem" (1801).

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