ASTRAT
= from Piedmontese, "abstract"
"the nature of juggling might not aline so well with what you can easily explain in a narrative or a concept, it might be so that what you cannot easily explain in a narrative or a concept is what gives depth to juggling"
[Erik Åberg, "Objects episode 7"]
So how can I talk about this project?
With the material, the "pappa": videos, photos. But there isn't enough of it yet,
so maybe with inspirational quotes and catchphrases.
Like
Astrat / Non-utilitarian and anti-pareidolic
amimetic and counter-apophenia juggling
I don't know what I'm doing, I don't know what the project will look like.
I want to be at the service of the materiality, then at the service of the composition of the work, in a sensitive way.
Explore, discover and show the hidden capacities of materiality.
“What I love is that I never know what I’m working on, why I’m working on it. They are not ideas, they’re instincts.
[...] I like not to know for as long as possible. Well, because then it tells me the truth, instead of me imposing the truth”
[Michael Moschen, "Michael Moschen: Juggling rhythm and motion"]
Coming in 2026
the objects
“And even if there is all, no recognizable subject, doesn’t a painting still have content?”
[Bob Nickas, “Painting Abstraction: New Elements in Abstract Painting”, page 5]
I found, created and juggled many different objets during the last years.
Some of them will be used again in this project (like my cubes), some not, some will be modified to fit more.
The big novelty in this project is the objects that don't yet exist, which I'm going to start creating with different manufacturers this autumn.
My work is based on practice, on the idea that ideas and solutions come from immersing oneself in the technical exploration of objects. I don't know where I'll end up yet, I just know where I'm starting from.
"The truth is, most of us discover where we are headed when we arrive."
[Bill Watterson, Kenyon College commencement address, 1990]
other people’s objects
“Because juggling could be a form to serve colours! In a way that maybe trampoline jumping, aerialists… would not. [...] I think juggling really gives colours a chance. Or could give colours a chance”.
[Ivar Heckscher, "Ivar Heckscher Interview #1"]
This is a solo, but you don’t make solos solo.
One thing I don’t like about the “solo” format is that it gives too much importance to the visible person and not enough to the others, giving the impression that he did it all by himself, that he’s some kind of genius.
That is rarely the case.
In this project, I’d like to use objects created by other jugglers, and this is how I’d like to proceed:
- invite the juggler into the creation with me, to teach me about the object and act as an outside eye on the rest of the show
- use the object on stage, explaining who the creator is during the show
These are the people that already accepted: Jay Gilligan, Martin Schwietzke, Jani Suihkonen.
Yea I'm surprised too.
This list is made up entirely of men, but that’s not a deliberate choice, it’s my ignorance: if you know of any female jugglers/sculptors who have created such objects, please let me know!
Team
Juggling + sound + writing : Carlo Cerato
Administration, production, diffusion: Collectif STP
Help 1: Johan Swartvagher
Help 2: Martin Schwietzke
Help 3: Jay Gilligan
Costumes: Françoise Léger