Art is not moving forward, it's not a high performer, it cannot be measured and it proves nothing. At the starting point of all my creations, I always ask myself two questions: “What's it about? And, why do it?” At the same time I imagine the stage area. Set design has always played a central role in my creations. Its function is not decorative, but one of action. It acts on the actor, and reciprocally. Is the stage not the art of a space? With “Sans objet” I wanted to bring an industrial robot onto the stage that had the strength to move all the elements of the décor as well as the actors. As such, the machine becomes a protagonist in its own right. This machine is an articulated, mechanical arm. We are going to use it like a “puppet” – a 100% technological being – that dialogues with an ordinary contemporary being. These characters are obliged to cohabit the stage, and it is impossible to ignore them. It's as if man today was made up of two facets: man is still human, but is becoming more and more technological. This relationship between man and machine is evolving. It's not a question of judging it, but one of observing it. Robots first arrived in the industrial world in the 70s; the idea is to take it out of its environment and put it on stage. In this way, it moves into the field of art, of uselessness.  It becomes “sans objet” (no reason for being), actor. We have always attempted to cross the line between, the living and the non-living using our imagination: so, objects exist where we say they have a soul, the myth of the statue that comes to life, and so many other devices, props in science fiction… This perspective interests me to the extent that it's becoming more and more concrete. Don't we currently mix together biological and electronic, i.e. living and inert! Here, we can see a double movement: the robot tends to humanize itself, and man to robotize himself. There is a risk that man will become “weaker” than the robot. Performance is at the heart of this question. Man will be obliged to “technologize” himself if he wants to continue to compete. In the past, to test his abilities, he pitted his strength against that of animals. Today, the challenge is in technology. In robotics, the Japanese are almost twenty years ahead of the Europeans and I could have ventured over there to check out their latest developments. Yet, I chose this old, basic robot, which is the industrial robot to go back to the origins of this technological evolution. What interests me is this articulated arm, its strength. Olivier Alenda and Olivier Boyer are the performers playing the roles of the ordinary contemporary man faced with the ascendancy of a robot.
Technical implementation is always important in my creations. Yet, at the same time, this is all very small-scale, the robot itself is simple. And I have a loyal, highly-skilled technical team working with me in Toulouse: without my team, it would be hard for me to produce my creations. sans objet can mean “useless”. This title is also an echo to the space left empty in a field in computing: the uselessness of an email sans objet (without a title), the unspecified… And if in the surprise of its dance with man, the robot that has been taken out of its industrial context – and which has become functionally useless-, reminded us of the nature of art: to be totally sans objet (useless)?

Propos extraits d'un entretien de Marie Bertholet pour le Théâtre Vidy-Lausanne, juillet 2009

Aurélien Bory was born in Colmar in 1972. His studies in physics in Strasbourg led him to the field of architectural acoustics.  He then ended his scientific curriculum in 1995.  He settled in Toulouse where he joined the creative studio at the Lido, the Circus Arts Centre. In 1998, he played in Theatre Tattoo's "L'Odyssée" directed by Mladen Materic.  In 2000 he founded Compagnie 111 with actor Olivier Alenda.  He then conceived and began the six-year-long space trilogy project, in collaboration with Phil Soltanoff, including "IJK", "Plan B" and "Plus ou moins l'infini" (More or less, Infinity).
In 2003 he directed Pierre Rigal in his first solo creation Erection, the stem of their ungoing collaboration, which also originated their second work together: Arrêts de Jeu premiered in 2006. Merging various other fields, he created "Taoub" in 2004 in Tangier with twelve moroccan acrobats, this very show will launch the international career of the Groupe acrobatique de Tanger (Tangier Acrobatic Group).  In 2008 Aurélien was the recipient of the "Créateur sans frontières" (Creator without borders)/ Radio France trophy for his international creations, notably "Les sept planches de la ruse" (The seven boards of skill) created in China in 2007 with performers from Dalian. In 2008 and 2009, he conceived two creations: "Questcequetudeviens?", a portrait of a woman, and "Sans Objet", a piece for an industrial robot. His creations include different artistic fields : theatre, circus, dance, visual arts, music...  His genre-crossing approach is inscribed within the question of space and is explored through his distinctive scenography. In 2016, he created "ESPÆCE" based on the French writer Georges Perec 's work, at the Festival d'Avignon (France).

Source: Company 111 's website ; Plan Bey 's press file

More information : cie111.com

Author, filmmaker and video artist Charles Picq (1952-2012) entered working life in the 70s through theatre and photography. A- fter resuming his studies (Maîtrise de Linguistique - Lyon ii, Maîtrise des sciences et Techniques de la Communication - grenoble iii), he then focused on video, first in the field of fine arts at the espace Lyonnais d'art Contemporain (ELAC) and with the group « Frigo », and then in dance.
   On creation of the Maison de la Danse in Lyon in 1980, he was asked to undertake a video documentation project that he has continued ever since. During the ‘80s, a decade marked in France by the explosion of contemporary dance and the development of video, he met numerous artists such as andy Degroat, Dominique Bagouet, Carolyn Carlson, régine Chopinot, susanne Linke, Joëlle Bouvier and regis Obadia, Michel Kelemenis. He worked in the creative field with installations and on-stage video, as well as in television with recorded shows, entertainment and documentaries.

His work with Dominique Bagouet (80-90) was a unique encounter. He documents his creativity, assisting with Le Crawl de Lucien and co-directing with his films Tant Mieux, Tant Mieux and 10 anges. in the 90s he became director of video development for the Maison de la Danse and worked, with the support of guy Darmet and his team, in the growing space of theatre video through several initiatives:
       - He founded a video library of dance films with free public access. This was a first for France. Continuing the video documentation of theatre performances, he organised their management and storage.
       - He promoted the creation of a video-bar and projection room, both dedicated to welcoming school pupils.
       - He started «présentations de saisons» in pictures.
       - He oversaw the DVD publication of Le tour du monde en 80 danses, a pocket video library produced by the Maison de la Danse for the educational sector.

       - He launched the series “scènes d'écran” for television and online. He undertook the video library's digital conversion and created Numeridanse.

His main documentaries are: enchaînement, Planète Bagouet, Montpellier le saut de l'ange, Carolyn Carlson, a woman of many faces, grand ecart, Mama africa, C'est pas facile, Lyon, le pas de deux d'une ville, Le Défilé, Un rêve de cirque.

He has also produced theatre films: Song, Vu d'ici (Carolyn Carlson), Tant Mieux, Tant Mieux, 10 anges, Necesito and So schnell, (Dominique Bagouet), Im bade wannen, Flut and Wandelung (Susanne Linke), Le Cabaret Latin (Karine Saporta), La danse du temps (Régine Chopinot), Nuit Blanche (Abou Lagraa), Le Témoin (Claude Brumachon), Corps est graphique (Käfig), Seule et WMD (Françoise et Dominique Dupuy), La Veillée des abysses (James Thiérrée), Agwa (Mourad Merzouki), Fuenteovejuna (Antonio Gades), Blue Lady revistied (Carolyn Carlson).

Source: Maison de la Danse de Lyon