The Gorey Experiment

The Gorey Experiment was conducted in February 2008, as the first of a new line of experiments called “Rehearsal ¤ Reversal”. The experiment took its name after “Edward Gorey”, a cartoonist which drawings inspired the experiment’s artists.

The experiment was initiated by eKleKtisK theatre production and partly financed by the Danish Arts Council. Four artists contacted The Laboratory to collaborate on the preparation and realization of their idea for this experiment.

The four artists were dramaturge Sandra Buck, choreographer Dorte Petersen, set designer Nicolai Hart Hansen, and composer Czeslaw Mozil. They wanted to explore the artistic possibilities of a non-hierarchical and interdisciplinary collaboration. They were interested in finding out what tools they needed to explore each art form’s characteristics and how they can intermingle in a democratic way.

The experiment tested three models focusing on non-hierarchical, practical cooperation but – equally important – had the purpose of making visible the interplay between the four different art forms, and the contribution made by each to the common product.

This led to reflections on the different art form’s essentiality, the ability of the individual artist to cooperate, “dramaturgy” as a form of art, and the advantages and disadvantages of working democratically and without a director. The work was done in preparation of a further collaboration between the four participants on a stage production.

The documentationvideo is online now, click here to watch it (in Danish).