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(Archive) Roesologie

An unorthodox research with designers, performers, experts and experiential experts into the role of substance use in our society.

This project was part of DDW 2021
Experimenting with roes — © Myrthe Krepel

SMELT and The Performance Bar present a brand new discipline: Roesology. Come to the roesological ravelab at MU to view the research results and to explore your need for roes (a high) yourself. Do you need connection, resistance or a good dose of wonder?

Emancipation of the roes (high)

We believe that we should take ‘the roes’ more seriously in our lives. Roes (the rush, the high, flow feeling): the moment where self-consciousness, sense of time and daily reality disappear into the background. With or without the use of chemical substances, a state of roes is reached when stretching your personal boundaries or boundaries set by society. The roes challenges our daily reality.

To embrace ‘the roes’ as part of life and to take her seriously SMELT and The Performance Bar present a new discipline: Roesology. Roesology is concerned with studying and achieving the state of consciousness that we call ‘de roes’. To reach a state of roes, rituals have been designed. Rituals that help you explore and stretch your boundaries without using alcohol or drugs.

Design and performative research

In an intensive design/performance research project, designers Myrthe Krepel and Dorian Kingma (SMELT) worked together with performer/raver and performance artist Daniel van den Broeke (The Performance Bar) around the topic of (recreational) substance use. What is the role of substances (alcohol & drugs) in people’s lives? And what does that say about how we have organized our society?

They talked to (former) drug users, a writer, a journalist, a drug dealer, a psychotherapist, people from addiction care and a shaman. Next to that, the roes (high) was explored together with performers from the Performance Bar. They worked with circus artist and pain expert Lisa Chudalla, improv master Margo van de Linde, absurd disruptor Florian Borstlap and dancer Mohamed Boujarra. They experimented with pain, improvisation, absurdism and movement and spoke at length to the performers about the role of roes (high) in their practice.

Roesology at DDW

In an exhibition in the container opposite MU, the visitor is taken on a journey into the development of the roesology. The research with experiential experts, experts and performers is presented. On-site specialists can also help you identify your need for roes. During the week, various performers facilitate rituals that challenge you to reach a state of roes. Without using alcohol or drugs. Keep an eye on www.roesologie.nl for the most up-to-date program.

Experimenting with roes — © Dorian Kingma

Roesological guide — © Myrthe Krepel

Roesological guide