In L’ÂGE D’OR, Igor Cardellini and Tomas Gonzalez propose to question the foundations of our time through three guided tours. The spectators are invited to visit a bank, an administrative office and a shopping centre in the way tourists stroll through archaeological sites. These functional spaces are almost invisible in cities. They escape our attention in everyday life and are rarely taken as objects of attention. Yet the forces shaping our contemporary world run through these places that are at the heart of globalisation.
Based on the architecture of these ubiquitous buildings – which can be found in any city – the three visits form an archaeological trilogy for the present time. A trilogy with three focal points inside capitalism’s recent history: finance, wage labour and consumption.
The paths we trace go through the multiple layers of the sites, the way they act on us and what they reveal of the organization of our post- industrial Western societies. Particular attention is paid to the relationship between the local and the global as well as to the different temporalities that are written on their walls.
The performance is designed for groups of approx. 20-25 people and last for about 70 minutes, with several tour departures per day possible.
Groups are equipped with headphones that allow the guide to be heard easily and to not make the presence of the group too disruptive. Groups meet directly in front of the buildings.
The guides are native speakers.