Tractor Rapsodie

On the farmyard of wannabe-farmer Louis Vanhaverbeke, the boundary between agriculture and performance blurs. In Tractor Rapsodie he returns, after a period in which everything came loose for a while, back to the ground, searching for grip in physical labour and the rhythm of the soil. Sowing, harvesting and composting make time tangible again.

With machines that hum and breathe, with beats and gestures, a vulnerable self-portrait unfolds in which thinking and doing intertwine. Where adapting chafes against stubbornness. Where searching for something can slowly become becoming something.

What begins as an attempt to ground oneself grows into a reflection on labour, recovery and following one's own rhythm. Agricultural machines are not scenery but counterparts: their sound and movement set the tempo and disrupt the romantic image of the countryside.

Tractor Rapsodie is a raw ode to slowness and physicality. Grounding is not a given here, but something you do, over and over again, in a continuous cycle of losing and starting anew.

Louis Vanhaverbeke is a performance artist who weaves together styles and subcultures. In his work, performances, installations and everyday — often colourful or discarded — objects meet in movement, spoken word and sound. He has created and toured internationally with works including Kokokito, The Bike Piece, MULTIVERSE and Mikado Remix.