Bassem Yousri – Consciously Subconscious

In our dreams, our subconscious minds make fascinating selections sparked by our conscious reality.
Absurd actions and conversations seem quite reasonable within a dream.
In a way, we create our own systems every time we dream, and we abide by their rules until we wake up.
Sometimes such rules free us entirely from the constraints of our conscious existence, but at other times they become burdening and incredibly unpleasant.

What if we try to reverse the process and attempt to create a dream-like logic while performing it consciously?

This score is for a performance that should be carried out by two participants. It requires some rehearsing by both participants for it to work seamlessly.

PLANNING:

1  >>  Each participant (separately) chooses 10 different objects (small objects preferably).
They don’t have to have a particular significance or a specific function (for example: a cucumber, a wallet, a glass of water, a pen, etc…).
These objects can be laid out in front of you during the performance or hidden in your pocket.

2  >>  Each participant (separately) chooses 10 different conversational tones (for example: calm, whispering, hesitant, angry, flirtatious, etc…)

3  >>  Each participant (separately) writes 10 different sentences: they have to be part of a longer conservation but taken out of context.
This means that each sentence should either be an answer to a random question that was never asked, or a random question or conversation starter
(for example: “I told her that I already put it there, but she never believed me!”;
“Do you like mangos?”;
“Dogs are more exciting, but I prefer cats”;
“Did you quit your job?”; etc…).

The various questions or answers/statements should not be related and should not make sense in a linear text.

4  >>   Randomly link each selected object to a conversational tone and to a sentence.
For instance, you could choose to link ‘a cucumber’ to ‘angry’ and to “Dogs are more exciting, but I prefer cats.
” This would mean that you take a bite from a cucumber while saying,
“Dogs are more exciting, but I prefer cats” in an angry tone.

REHEARSING:

Each participant (separately) rehearses all their lines and preferably learns them by heart.
Each participant should pay attention to the corresponding conversational tone associated with their sentence and practice using the linked object while performing their line.

THE PERFORMANCE:

The two participants sit across from each other. Each of them should have their selected objects handy (on the table, in their pockets, etc…).

The first participant starts saying their first line with its respective tone while using the respective object.
The second participant proceeds similarly, and so on and so forth.

The result should be a seamless absurd conversation between the two.