OLD BODY: NEW MANAGEMENT

Old Body: New Management is an exploration of the ‘Ship of Theseus’ paradox which asks the question: If a ship gradually has each of its original parts replaced with new ones, at what point in the process does it cease to be the original ship? Does it ever cease to be the original ship? What defines it as itself? This question has been posited by philosophers not only as these properties apply to objects, but to humans and bodies. A full regeneration of cells in the human body happens every seven years, skin cells regenerate in two to three weeks. By age 30,the human body’s cells have all been completely replaced. The body you are in now is not the same as it was last week, last month, or last year. These systems can be interrupted, traumatic events occur, cells grow at different paces. Although you may look the same, can you ever truly be the same person? Drawing on strong contemporary physicality and experimental sound, Motus Collective explore these themes in Old Body: New Management in collaboration with composed and experimental musician Matthew Timmis and his movement-based sound technology. Matthew explored the same concept within his improvised score, finding an ‘original plank of wood’ within the sound scape, playing with the audience's notion of recognisability and repetition. 

Old Body: New Management was created at Australian Dance Theatre with support from the Tanja Liedtke Foundation. It was then further developed and performed at VitalStatistix Adhocracy Program.