Comments on: That was Festival of Lies http://blogs.walkerart.org/performingarts/2007/11/02/festival-lies/ Just another Walker Blogs weblog Wed, 03 Dec 2008 06:05:18 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.5 By: Lightsey http://blogs.walkerart.org/performingarts/2007/11/02/festival-lies/#comment-96 Lightsey Sat, 03 Nov 2007 20:58:50 +0000 http://blogs.walkerart.org/performingarts/2007/11/02/that-was-festival-of-lies/#comment-96 Galen, your questions about truth, fiction, and lies resonate with me. I think the performance points out that the truth/lies dichotomy is not a friendly one. All that text, all those speeches--the speakers assert that they are telling the truth and others are lying. They want us to play their game, to attempt to judge truth and lies. But in reality the line is blurred. People who spend most of the time lying can sometimes tell the truth--perhaps for their own interests. And meanwhile the dance is going on. How do we assess the truth value of the dance? Clearly it exists in another realm, which must be what Linyekula means by "this is a work of fiction". Further, I'd say that Linyekula makes us choose between the truth/lies world of the speeches and the "fiction" world of the dance. You can't pay attention to both at once (particularly if you're not fluent in French!). Galen, your questions about truth, fiction, and lies resonate with me. I think the performance points out that the truth/lies dichotomy is not a friendly one. All that text, all those speeches–the speakers assert that they are telling the truth and others are lying. They want us to play their game, to attempt to judge truth and lies. But in reality the line is blurred. People who spend most of the time lying can sometimes tell the truth–perhaps for their own interests.

And meanwhile the dance is going on. How do we assess the truth value of the dance? Clearly it exists in another realm, which must be what Linyekula means by “this is a work of fiction”. Further, I’d say that Linyekula makes us choose between the truth/lies world of the speeches and the “fiction” world of the dance. You can’t pay attention to both at once (particularly if you’re not fluent in French!).

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