Poster from the performance
The other performances of Petr Nikl in the Archa Theatre
Galerie Rudolfinum and the Archa Theatre feature
Nests of Games
conception: Petr Nikl
A six-week variable playground combining visual, musical and theatrical forms in mutually open play with continuous participation of various ensembles, artists and guests.
Galerie Rudolfinum, January 12 - February 20, 2000
This project is part of the official program "Prague 2000 European City of Culture".
It is a presentation to viewers a program under the title "Nests of Games" which its creator, Petr Nikl, characterizes as a "six-week variable playground living parasitically on Neo-Renaissance exhibition halls and supported both by visitors and the continuous participation of ensembles of artists and guests operating movement, musical and visual devices." Daily visitors to the gallery will be direct witnesses to the inception, presentation and closing of whole pieces, which can be given the working title of a "show". This way a series of games is taking place the whole time: the viewers, the artists, the exhibited or rather presented items, the tools and equipment they all play. "Nests" come into being, hopefully to stay dream-like dwellings imagined by the artists who have been involved in this game with Petr Nikl.
Galerie Rudolfinum is open daily except for Monday:
12:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m (Games in progress)
6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. (Even of the day)
Daily Menu:
Wednesday, January 12 (6:00 p.m. - Upper circuit)
Warming Up
Rotating roulette
Keyboard of the playground squadron, Martin Smolka, Theater Studio of Pure Joy and Robert Hugo
Circulation game using all the upper halls.
Thursday, January 13 (6:00 p.m. - Entrance Hall)
Frozen Dream
The Forgotten Orchestra from the Dreamers´ Land
Dance by the Theater Studio of Pure Joy
Seventh birthday of this improvisational orchestra with a stream of round dances and projections.
Friday, January 14 (6:00 p.m. - Rudolfinarium)
Music with Verve
"Sleazy Glissanda", "Rectangular Homeland" and other compositions
Blahoslav Rozbořil in association with Josef Daněk
Animated lecture, duration 50 min.
Saturday, January 15 (5:00 p.m. - Rudolfinarium)
Races
First of the series of mini-races.
Saturday, Januray 15 (6:00 p.m. - Rudolfinarium)
Community of "Mr. - "
Luboš Fidler, Oldřich Janota, Štěpán Pečírka
Sound objects - vibrating aluminium in quarter tone rows, light score and propeller shall be heard in combination with acoustic guitar, bassoon and accordions.
Sunday, January 16 (2:30 p.m. - Winter Garden)
Children's Feast
Marionette laboratory MEHEDAHA
Series of children's meetings with a game of mini-objects, which can be anything based on the need of the moment.
Sunday, January 16 (4:00 p.m. - Entrance Hall)
Bambooso Sonoro
Overture
Hans van Koolwijk
An original organism made out of bamboo pipes by a Dutch organist.
Sunday, January 16 (6:00 p.m. - Entrance Hall)
Slanted Drops
Fontanelle for water and strings
Strings - Irena and Vojtěch Havel
Resounding water - Jana Svobodová and Petr Nikl
Ping-pong of tones, rustles and shadows on the water surface. Free-form dance of small items on the water stream and vice versa.
Sunday, January 16 (8:00 p.m. - Entrance Hall)
Bambooso Sonoro
Hans van Koolwijk
Concert of bamboo organ.
Tuesday, January 18 (6:00 p.m. - Red Riding Hall)
Halma mater
Metafusion of choir and optical laboratory technicians
Vocals: CAPELLA REGIA, harpsichord and singers´ ensemble of Robert Hugo, in a glass bead collection by František Matoušek
Movement: Theater Studio of Pure Joy
Music by Renaissance and Baroque composers - Jacob Handl Gallo, Orlando Lasso, Kryštof Harant of Polžice and Adam Michna of Otradovice - will be played in the light of images projected by a camera obscura in a whirl of dance figures.
Wednesday, January 19 (6:20 p.m. - Entrance Hall)
Chinese Echoes
Opera piece
Singing by Song Vojtová
Short fragment of an opera on the occasion of the opening of an exhibition of Chinese video art.
Thursday, January 20 (6:00 p.m. - Brown Riding Hall)
Moors
Strings - Irena and Vojtěch Havel
Water piano - Petr Zelený
Resounding drowned piano and other water devices conversing with cello and upright piano.
Friday, January 21 (6:00 p.m. - Entrance Hall)
Psalms for an Entrance Hall
Ceiling piece
Music - Irena and Vojtěch havel
Balloons - David Walliker
Birds´ flights and songs in the form of string bows and air games.
Saturday, January 22 (6:00 p.m. - Grey Orchestra Pit)
Placing of Boats
BKS
Music - "Dead Breath"
Schools of a specific ikebana of the BKS organization.
Sunday, January 23 (3:30 p.m. - Winter Garden)
Children's Feast
Marionette laboratory MEHEDAHA and the Theater Studio of Pure Joy
Ballet of various items parading in front of a revived coulisse.
Sunday, January 23 (6:00 p.m. - Entrance Hall)
Abandoned Air
Fugue of smooth gases
Sightseeing flight facility FLIP, breathing appliances of the playground squadron, and singing by Petr Matuszek.
A prepared piano as a flight training machine demonstrates possible stages of flight accompanied by hovercrafts.
Tuesday, January 25 (6:00 p.m. - Winter Garden)
Rainhard´s Favorite Games
From violin to chess
Josef Bolf and Jáno Mančuška
An attempt at an historical impression in an authentic environment, outlined by a bow and a simultaneous game of chess.
Wednesday, January 26 (6:00 p.m. - Grey Orchestra Pit)
Molodur
Singspiel
Singing by Song Vojtová
Spiel by the Theater Studio of Pure Joy
Keyboard system - Martin Smolka
Fusion of a Chinese singer, Czech composer and dramatic improvisation by the Theater Studio of Pure Joy.
Thursday, January 27 (6:00 p.m. - Rudolfinarium)
Echoes
Gong system - Martin Janíček
Echoes - trio of the playground squadron
Singing - Siri Austeen
Music of metal objects resulting in a vocal creation by the Norwegian performer.
Friday, January 28 (6:00 p.m. - Entrance Hall)
At the Beginning of Light
Echoes of ethnic worlds
Vocal and instruments - Petr Matuszek and Vlastislav Matoušek
Light - duo of the playground squadron
Aliquot Tibetan and Mongolian songs in an improvised mixture with ethnic musical elements and light ensembles.
Friday, January 28 (8:00 p.m. - Entrance Hall)
Rainfall of Organ
Ephemeral canon
Harmonium - Martin Smolka
Sightseeing flight facility FLIP - Petr Nikl
Cascade system - quartet of the playground squadron
Prepared piano as an optical-musical machine, on which items determine by their own gravity the movement and sound in combination with organ improvisation.
Saturday, January 29 (6:00 p.m. - Red Riding Hall)
Open Tuning Room
Situation as of January 29
Quintet of the playground squadron
Performance by the local ensemble consisting of elements and impulses derived from the previous two-week's goings-on.
Sunday, January 30 (3:30 p.m. - Winter Garden)
Children's Feast
Marionette laboratory MEHEDAHA
Play with miniature items, not only for children, in front of a background one-kilometer deep.
Sunday, January 30 (6:00 p.m. - Entrance Hall)
The Sound of Breathing
The members of the group Wooden Toys will perform several composition for the section of didjerid, electric guitar and percussion.
Tuesday, February 1 (6:00 p.m. - Brown Riding Hall)
Lady Bird Theater
Petr Marek, Jiří Nezhyba, Prokop Holoubek
A decadent trio, employing anything at hand in their spontaneous, on-the-spot musical creation.
Tuesday, February 1 (7:15 p.m. - Brown Riding Hall)
Dancing Musical Duo
Jiří Dobeš and Sergej Kotov
Wednesday, February 2 (6:00 p.m. - Grey Orchestra Pit)
Dreamers´ Tower Clock
Rhythmical-melodic composition - constellation as of February 2
Jaroslav Kořán and guests
The metal playsystem, running wild on the ground, is presented by the musician in its current developmental stage.
Thursday, February 3 (6:00 p.m. - Entrance Hall)
At the Bottom
Drum nocturne
Percussion - Tomáš Ondrůšek
Sound objects - Siegfried Wekenmann
Gutter system - duo of the playground squadron
Compositions by Miloš Haase, Martin Smolka, Frederico Rzewski, Peter Graham, Ivana Loudová and Iannins Xenakis will be heard together with sound objects.
Friday, February 4 (6:00 p.m. - Rudolfinarium)
Tlama Mater
Environmental obsession
Ritual lecture presented by Josef Daněk and Blahoslav Rozbořil
Musical collaboration - Petr Ingerle
Animated lecture, duration 50 minut.
Friday, February 4 (7:00 p.m. - Brown Riding Hall)
Speach I
Heinrich Lüber - performance
Saturday, February 5 (6:00 p.m. - Rudolfinarium)
Speach II
Heinrich Lüber - performance
Saturday, February 5 (7:00 p.m. - Rudolfinarium)
Open Tuning Room
Situation as of February 5
Playground squadron
After a week, the local ensemble presents its new findings and situations.
Sunday, February 6 (3:30 p.m. - Winter Garden)
Children's Feast
Marionette laboratory MEHEDAHA and the Theater Studio of Pure Joy
Improvised meeting of items and marionettes in the real light of an early winter evening.
Sunday, February 6 (4:30 p.m. - Red Riding Hall)
Serves You Right for Your Rudeness
Fairy tale?
Ostrava dessert
Sunday, February 6 (6:00 p.m. - Rudolfinarium)
Solo for Voice
Vocals - Petr Matuszek
Buffer - Martin Zet
Pipe - Josef Daněk and Blahosalv Rozbořil
Tunnel - Milan Cais
Aliquot vocal theater for a solo vocal. Compositions by Peter Graham, Giocinto Cselsi, Alois Piňos and Petr Pokorný will be heard from the womb of space and acoustic objects.
Tuesday, February 8 (6:00 p.m. - Brown Riding Hall)
Karlík - the Man Who is Hot for My Thirteen-Year-Old Daughter and Who Is in Fact a Woman
Petr Lysáček and Jiří Martuška
Body action about the courting of two performers from Ostrava.
Tuesday, February 8 (7:00 p.m. - Brown Riding Hall)
Mosaic
Ostrava dance evening.
Wednesday, February 9 (6:00 p.m. - Grey Orchestra Pit)
Fragrant Art
Pneumatic shooting
Exercise conducted by Jiří Surůvka
Harpsichord - Rober Hugo
Instruction followed by a collective game which teases but does no harm, accompanied by a soundtrack of compositions by forgotten Baroque virtuoso Johann Caspar Kerll
Thursday, February 10 (6:00 p.m. - Grey Orchestra Pit)
Rustle among the Sticks
(On leather flats)
Exercise with cymbals - Franta Tramta Skála & Comp.
A percussion organism with one month's development, got out of the artist's control during production.
Friday, February 11 (6:00 p.m. - Rudolfinarium)
Rhythmic Ball
Flying carpet and Blue Aboview
Dance evening in the rhythm of trance drums.
Saturday, February 12 (6:00 p.m. - Red Riding Hall)
Whisper of the Outskirts
Ground games
Walliker´s machines, Kintera´s mice, Daněk´s flywheels...
Resounding floor
Septet of the playground squadron
Parade of small machines, kayaks and various devices that are controlled by the local operational unit - the squadron.
Saturday, February 12 (8:00 p.m. - Red Riding Hall)
Explicit Dance
Jiřina Lexová and Oldřich Janota
Sunday, February 13 (3:30 p.m. - Winter Garden)
Children's Feast
Marionette laboratory MEHEDAHA
Sunday, February 13 (6:00 p.m. - Entrance Hall)
Ethno-Oratorio Stone
Laurych Theater
Girl´s and Men´s choirs with piano, masks, illuminated objects and African and Red Indian drums.
Sunday, February 13 (8:00 p.m. - Entrance Hall)
Envoi
Dance evening
A dance of tones, a very improbable story on light threads.
Tuesday, February 15 (6:00 p.m. - Rudolfinarium)
Rudolf Number
Melodrama of the ZOOM Theater
Melo - Michael Delia
Drama - Jiří Černický and Petr Nikl
Theater of objects, masks and defects together with music by an American builder of non-traditional instruments.
Wednesday, February 16 (6:00 p.m. - Brown Riding Hall)
In a Pause
Buffer of Martin Zet
Duo
Esrays by Elena Kubičková, guitars by Petr Korbelář
Songs performance with an object swallowing sound, merging into a concert of acoustic guitar and esray (Indian multi-stringed instrument).
Thursday, February 17 (6:00 p.m. - Entrance Hall)
Dances
The Forgotten Orchestra of the Dreamers´ Land and guests
with the bead collection by František Matoušek
Dance by the Theater Studio of Pure Joy
Dance evening of an improvisational orchestra with projection.
Friday, February 18 (6:00 p.m. - Rudolfinarium)
Rudolfinarium
Scenic lecture
Josef Daněk and Blahoslav Roubořil
Animated lecture, duration 50 min.
Saturday, February 19 (6:00 p.m. - Entrance Hall)
Mamlesa
Panic cacophony
Sightseeing flight facility FLIP and the instrumental section of the playground squadron octet
The local squadron summarizes its findings after a six-week stay, this time in interconnection with the pilot facility FLIP.
Saturday, February 19 (8:00 p.m.- Rudolfinarium)
Landscape of Several Suns
Petr Lorenc
Playful spectral performance using out-of-focus talamuses.
Sunday, February 20 (4:00 p.m. - Winter Garden)
Children's Feast
Marionette laboratory MEHEDAHA and the Theater Studio of Pure Joy
Last ballet of marionettes, using for its nonsense silhouettes of Prague Castle.
Sunday, February 20 (6:00 p.m. - Grey Orchestra Pit)
Dreamers´ Tower Clock
Constellation as of February 20
Jaroslav Kořán and guests
Rhythmic-melodic metal system after six weeks of development, this time attached to Michael Dalia´s strings and calimbas.
The main product of all those present and their instruments is their mutual play. It is the starting point as well as the goal. The event is neither an exhibition, nor a show of concerts and performances. It is a playground on which an object or empty playboard awaits its game to be started at an appointed hour.
Both the viewer and custodian may take the opportunity to play.
Instruments are available and open. Games are open formations without a beginning or end.
The authorship of games is interchangeable and transferable.
The gallery spaces - used as a gym - are the only constant.
The pink mask of the "Nests of Games" functions as a season tickets for the entire six-week period.
The viewer has the right to desert to go to a concert organized by the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, if he/she has a ticket.
The viewer may stay and bring any material with him/her.