The Art of Not
The performance is inspired by Franz Kafka's short story ‘A Hunger Artist’, translated by Thodoris Tsomiidis and adapted by MASH (Katerina Antoniou & Christos Kapenis). It is a physical and existential exploration of the story of the hunger artist, who refuses sustenance as the ultimate form of self-expression. The protagonist of the play dedicates his life to the art of fasting; he is exhibited in public performances, locked in a cage, while the crowd watches with admiration the gradual exhaustion of his body. The music and sound of the performance do not merely serve as background but are an integral part of the narrative. In a world that consumes images and glorifies spectacle, the performance proposes a radical return to the nakedness of the theatre: the performer, alone and exposed, creates a world of his own, where emptiness—emptiness as an artistic imprint, as inner truth, and as a space for interaction with the audience—becomes a focal point.
