Totally Happy
Paper Tiger Theatre Studio, Beijing / Münchner Kammerspiele
-Tales from the masses
-The Masses - A piece of mass movement
-The order of masses
-Ghost of the mass
-Mass movements
a theatre project
by Tian Gebing and Christoph Lepschy
Some thoughts on the background
„Masses have bright eyes“ – is one oft the famous slogans of Mao Zedong, that articulates the pervasive power oft the mass and at the same time the implicit threat to the individual that dares to separate from the same mass. The slogan implies the notion of control towards the individual: you cannot escape these eyes, they will always follow you. In western terms one would say: this mass is like a god, who is always watching you. Moreover the clause stresses the bodily aspect oft he mass: It has eyes like an individual, but in turn the individual becoming part of the body of the mass delivers his eyesight to the mass which is subsequentley seeing more bright. The less you see individually the more perceives the body of the mass.
This notion of the mass in China appears to the individual like a ghost that is always behind you, watching and observing you - not just since the revolution, but since ancient times. In this context following your own interest has been constantly considered somewhat suspicious: rapidly you get suspected to act selfishly or to desert from the bigger issue of serving the public good. There is always a certain pressure - the eye of the ghost – behind almost every feeling of individual concern. In the years of cultural revolution (and as well during several mass campaigns before) this ghost of the mass has become a real experience of every day live affecting the lives of millions of individuals. Until today the dominant imperative of the ghost of the mass persists.
Looking from this point of view to the notion of the indvidual in Europe, the difference becomes obvious. Since the european notion of the individual is rooted in the concept of an unique interior constitution, the protected evolution of the individual has become a leading issue. Therefore the notion of going your own way is an omnipresent imperative, that you get taught from your childhood on: Cultivate yourself, be as original as possible, avoid in all circumstances to be like everyman. Getting part of mass movements today instead would be rather explored in the context of mass amusements like a rave or sports events. At the same time we actually witness mass movements like the occupy-movement expressing as well a strong desire for a new collective will. Of course the traumatic history of 20th century mass movements during the Nazi era plays an enormous role for the conscience towards mass movements especially in Germany.
However we can notice a complementary desire: tired – in Europe and the west - from the obligation of beeing unique, tired may be as well from the western excess of egoism on the one hand and therefore looking for new collective experiences, tired – on the other hand in China - from the ghosts of the masses, the experience of mass campaigns and thus searching for new concepts of individualism – in these approaching movements east and west might be able to become the story of each other.
Both in China and Europe we seem to loose our stories. The sense of a story that provides the rhythm of legitimation in a national framework gets increasingly absorbed by a unifying economic discourse. „Hu wei gu shi“ – „to be the story of each other“ is therefore a basic impulse for the chinese-european cooperation of this project.
-Tales from the masses
-The Masses - A piece of mass movement
-The order of masses
-Ghost of the mass
-Mass movements
a theatre project
by Tian Gebing and Christoph Lepschy
Some thoughts on the background
„Masses have bright eyes“ – is one oft the famous slogans of Mao Zedong, that articulates the pervasive power oft the mass and at the same time the implicit threat to the individual that dares to separate from the same mass. The slogan implies the notion of control towards the individual: you cannot escape these eyes, they will always follow you. In western terms one would say: this mass is like a god, who is always watching you. Moreover the clause stresses the bodily aspect oft he mass: It has eyes like an individual, but in turn the individual becoming part of the body of the mass delivers his eyesight to the mass which is subsequentley seeing more bright. The less you see individually the more perceives the body of the mass.
This notion of the mass in China appears to the individual like a ghost that is always behind you, watching and observing you - not just since the revolution, but since ancient times. In this context following your own interest has been constantly considered somewhat suspicious: rapidly you get suspected to act selfishly or to desert from the bigger issue of serving the public good. There is always a certain pressure - the eye of the ghost – behind almost every feeling of individual concern. In the years of cultural revolution (and as well during several mass campaigns before) this ghost of the mass has become a real experience of every day live affecting the lives of millions of individuals. Until today the dominant imperative of the ghost of the mass persists.
Looking from this point of view to the notion of the indvidual in Europe, the difference becomes obvious. Since the european notion of the individual is rooted in the concept of an unique interior constitution, the protected evolution of the individual has become a leading issue. Therefore the notion of going your own way is an omnipresent imperative, that you get taught from your childhood on: Cultivate yourself, be as original as possible, avoid in all circumstances to be like everyman. Getting part of mass movements today instead would be rather explored in the context of mass amusements like a rave or sports events. At the same time we actually witness mass movements like the occupy-movement expressing as well a strong desire for a new collective will. Of course the traumatic history of 20th century mass movements during the Nazi era plays an enormous role for the conscience towards mass movements especially in Germany.
However we can notice a complementary desire: tired – in Europe and the west - from the obligation of beeing unique, tired may be as well from the western excess of egoism on the one hand and therefore looking for new collective experiences, tired – on the other hand in China - from the ghosts of the masses, the experience of mass campaigns and thus searching for new concepts of individualism – in these approaching movements east and west might be able to become the story of each other.
Both in China and Europe we seem to loose our stories. The sense of a story that provides the rhythm of legitimation in a national framework gets increasingly absorbed by a unifying economic discourse. „Hu wei gu shi“ – „to be the story of each other“ is therefore a basic impulse for the chinese-european cooperation of this project.