Digitale Technologien verändern unsere Alltagskultur auf vielfältige Weise. Wir leben mitten im postdigitalen Zeitalter. Das Netz ist allgegenwärtig, auch und gerade in Kunst und Kultur.
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episode 1: FLEX
The lights go down. A spotlight cuts through the darkness, catching dust and leaving a perfect white circle of the stage. Steps are heard. Then he appears, Tyler X, the FLEX leader, FLEXPRENEUR, the owner of the word. Silence. The camera zooms in on his face which appears on the massive screen and then he speaks. One word. The word: FLEX! The hall explodes into a ball of light, moving images, song and hysterical joy. “ARE YOU READY TO FLEX?” Tyler screams. They freak out and he begins.
- Marcus John Henry Brown
London. 2023
They have come in their hundreds to see him speak, The Unrequited. They have come to seek guidance, to find the light and take themselves to the next level. He will show them the way through The Sensorium Process, that final trial to prove that they have the skills, the knowledge and a brand strong enough to escape the island and enter into the network. They have watched his pay-for-view-streams, bought his bible and now they are here to see him at this, his spectacular live show. They are the final batch. Tyler is quite literally their last chance.
Tyler: the man with the X on his face. His gospel is quite simple: abandon the clutter of thought, embrace the shift from Human to Ressource, become a rich network brand and embrace his model of living: FLEX.
FLEX is the law. Fail and stay on The Island: remain Unrequited.
It is the programme, the one true direction. It’s an addiction. It is your brand-right. It guides you, brands you, and you brand it. FLEX is a picture, a sign, the signifier: the image of you, designed by you. It is the framework upon which we offer each other unto each other.
FLEX is the word. And the word is final.
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Part satire, part dystopian theatre, FLEX takes the audience on a dark journey that explores the future of snackable personalities, the branding of entrepreneurial struggle, hustle culture of modern corporate society and the rise of media gurus. It examines they are impacting society, politics, the companies we work for, the shops from we buy from and the lives of our children.
It is funny, dark and a parable of our times. It’s a warning too, as it imagines a society built upon the values of marketing and influencer culture, the collapse of political integrity and the march towards sovereign individualism. FLEX is a confrontation: the audience becomes The Unrequited with Brown playing his strangest character yet, Tyler X.