Sweat, Sisyphus and System Failure

It is rare that a concert engages the audience’s sense of smell. Just as rare is the sight of musicians in headbands and gym shorts performing a two-hour workout routine – not only pushing the narrative, but the smell of sweat, all the way over the edge of the stage. Current Resonance stayed far from the yoga mats, and in the work musical workout they invited the audience onto the floor to take part in an exquisitely awkward exercise session. It was grotesque – and very funny.

With a neurotic, Monty Python-esque persistence, the ensemble pushed the concept to its extremes

Graft, a piece situated somewhere between performance art, music theatre and a PE lesson, consisted of five works, all exploring the same theme: »work«, and with a neurotic, Monty Python-esque persistence, the ensemble pushed the concept to its extremes. Graft exposed the modern human’s fetishisation of hard work – our obsession with finding meaning and purpose. At the centre of the increasingly distorted narratives stood the four composers, each in comic denial, like four modern Sisyphuses.

The opening work, Dilbert Future with Advanced File-Sharing, was performed in KU.BE’s foyer by what appeared to be a four-headed, slightly idiotic AI unit. Referencing Scott Adams’ satirical book The Dilbert Future (1997), stupidity was installed as the reigning force of the 21st century. The four composer-performers sat back-to-back, their heads poking through a sheet, tapping away at hanging keyboards while speaking in pure gibberish. It was chaotic, but also charming in its DIY folk-school aesthetic.

Without having read the programme notes, its meaning was difficult to decode, but the piece served well as an introduction to the evening’s absurdities. When the performers finally broke out of their AI shell and became individuals again, the audience was guided from the system’s linguistic confusion into the human search for meaning – within a work-life so consuming that taking time off seems more pointless than pointless tasks themselves.

Play until you fail – or until your body gives up

In Juta Pranulytė’s F, the premise was simple: play until you fail, or until your body gives up. There was tapping here too, but now at the piano. It became a study of the note F – a monotonous affair, and that was precisely the point. The piece left plenty of room for teasing, personal reflections.

It was convincing, well executed, and again immensely funny

Things became more dynamic in Timothy Cape’s sorry for the late reply, where a frantic percussionist, in meticulously choreographed movements, cracked and snapped in sync with the mental slaps delivered by a clock’s relentless hands. The projected image of the clock on the bass drum was repeatedly replaced by footage from an endoscopic throat examination, which – both symbolically and sonically – triggered the gag reflex.

The evening’s main work, Graft, was a documentary film unfolding the ensemble’s reflections on what hard work means, with a particular focus on artistic labour. Athletic feats again became a metaphor for ultimate effort and the mentality that pushes boundaries in pursuit of peak performance.

The composers portrayed characters based on themselves, but as the film progressed, reality tilted; suddenly we were following four psychoses, each performing their »work« with such ritualistic solemnity that it led to hilariously surreal situations—like crocheting yarn-leaves imagined to absorb abnormal amounts of CO₂ and thereby save the world, »as long as you don’t think too much about the math behind it.«

Who says musicians can’t work out?

The universal hamster wheel

It was convincing, well executed, and again immensely funny. To end the evening, the audience’s patience was once more tested with a video performance of Louis Andriessen’s Workers Union. Four windows, each containing a performer, became the work’s instruments, each movement producing a tone. Lasting fifteen minutes, the piece was almost danceable, yet also resembled sitting in a noisy room with your hands over your ears – letting go and covering them again. Or perhaps a fast-forward montage of the universal hamster wheel. The idea was simple and effective, and it fit seamlessly into the evening’s chaotic aesthetic.

Graft perforated our collective work ethic with a kind of self-effacing elegance – a sly philosophy that turned well-meaning poster quotes like »it’s not the destination – it’s the journey« upside down. And who says musicians can’t work out?

»Graft« by Current Resonance (performers: Dylan Richards, Joss Smith, Matthew Grouse, Michael Hope, and guest performer Rob Durnin). Curated by Matthew Grouse. The performance took place at Kube on 3 October 2025.

English translation: Andreo Michaelo Mielczarek