The 11th Knife (2008)

Links: REVIEWS

A single laundry line of drying and tattered sheets separates the world of The 11th Knife from the concrete blocks of the old campus in Amager. Several dilapidated caravans, a broken down car from yesteryear, and a smoldering fire in a lone rusty barrel mark the boundaries of this world, where “The Games” have been resurrected for yet another turn with destiny. Visitors watch, resist and indulge their imaginations as the two Game Masters control the fate of two players and two playerettes, once again at the mercy of the spinning wheels.  One spin determines their identities from a series of archetypes, and another dooms them to a mode of play. With each round, performers and visitors bet and negotiate terms of freedom, sacrifice, and punishment under the menacing gaze of the Masters.  Only the “Rabbit” and the hushed, methodical movement of the servants hints to visitors the deadly end that approaches when the salt and sugar has been counted and weighed.

Date: 20th of August 15:00 to 23rd of August midnight, nonstop.

Place: An abandoned lot adjacent to the old, now demolished, campus at the University of Copenhagen Amager.

"People stop and stare from behind the wire fence. Signa sucks people in. Not long ago, the Danish performance goddess was worshipped at the Berliner Theatertreffen, and together with Austrian media artist Arthur Köstler, she enthralled the Ruhr district (…) in the camp where reality and fiction ceased to exist. The abuse of power sticks to the bodies of the passers-by – much like the lingering odor of the campfire." (translated from Danish)
- Anne Middelboe Christensen, Information

"The structure, atmosphere and aesthetics of 11th Knife embody the shabby decadence of the interwar period that SIGNA masters. In a landscape of run-down trailers, the two self-appointed masters reign over a strange hierarchy. Their game of fate has no clear rules as they control the manic gambling inhabitants, who gladly sacrifice everything to keep playing." (translated from Danish)
- Jan Samuelsen, Kunsten.nu