resist: the right to revolution

type of work : split site performance and intervention
what is it : a tug of war contest over the right to revolution
who is it : one conflict resolution squad, 20m rope. a team of local champions

>> "the first duty of a revolutionary is to get away with it. the second is not to trust anyone over the age of thirty. the third is to be guided by a great feeling of love." abbie hoffman

pvi collective invite you to join the resistance.
armed with a 20 metre length of rope and a room full of freedom fighters, pvi collective resurrects the ancient art of tug-of-war in its physically interactive performance resist.

resist: the right to revolution is a participatory performance work seeking to construct or amend a country’s constitutional rights using tug-of-war as a battleground to instigate revolution.

developed as a split-site work, audiences dressed in satin capes with the name of a famous revolutionary grafittied on the back choose a side ‘for’ or ‘against’ the right to revolution. during the course of the show, they are trained, tested and challenged on their true convictions. finally fourteen champions are selected to battle over the declaration to decide whether it becomes enshrined in a new bill of rights – determined by the people, for the people.

meanwhile, hooked up via a video link and screened live into the performance space, a lone revolutionary mounts a guerrilla campaign on the city streets, searching for comrades with a revolutionary spirit to join him. their mission is to infiltrate a state leader’s workplace to deliver the results of the tug-of-war contest and hand over the mantle of champion of the people to them.

resist aims to test the notion of people power in contemporary society and investigates how different modes of collective behaviour can generate social change.

resist is both playful and drop dead serious in its intentions. it’s time to make your mind up and pick a side.. 

background
resist: the right to revolution was originally developed as a tactical intervention whilst on a residency in santiago, chile in 2006 as part of the south project. it took place on the grounds of the presidential palace and invited random members of the public to fight for seven pertinent issues that had the community divided. results of each contest were then formally delivered to president bachelet for her consideration.

resist  has since been re-developed as a live performance and premiered as part of the awesome festival 2009 at the wa museum, perth, australia.

touring
resist has been created as a daytime work due to the nature of the site based interventions, but can be adapted for evening upon negotiation with a site-partner. it is flexible touring work aiming to interrogate local constitutions. preliminary research would need to be conducted for touring outside australia in order to ascertain local constitutional framework.

touring crew:
>> three performers
>> one technician
>> two co-directors.

specific technical requirements are available on request .

with grateful thanks to the following sponsors & supporters:

this project was originally commissioned by the south project international gathering in santiago, chile in 2006. the state of western australia has made an investment in this project through dca in association with the lotteries commission. pvi collective are produced by performing lines wa