Sprachspiel
by L'hommmm/Mats Van Herreweghe and Geert Belpaeme(BE)

Sprachspiel is a mesmerising performance somewhere between theatre and dance, that has been performed widely in Belgium, Holland and Germany. Proving that non-verbal language does not need to be unambiguous, and meaning happens only when an action is performed, two performers play on the edges of language and sense, with unpredictable consequences.

In a wordless exchange, Mats and Geert play a game with their hands, a game that becomes increasingly energetic, frenetic, exhausted. For the philosophically minded, it's a response to the writings of Wittgenstein, and his studies of language as a communicator of meaning. To the rest of us it’s a fascinating and shifting game, one where the rules change whenever we work out what they are, and the tension builds until the ending becomes inevitable.

Sprachspiel is a performance on the line between art and philosophical experiment. Showing how communication emerges out of play, not out of understanding, the performance was inspired by Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein’s idea that language does not need clear-cut concepts or unambiguous signifiers. It is not necessary for you and me to share pre-determined concepts and rules to be able to communicate - language is use. In Sprachspiel Mats Van Herreweghe and Geert Belpaeme examine how such a playful and active language can emerge.