Stupid Horse is an intimate, austere, poetic musical performance sung in Antwerp: a touch absurd with a touch of mystery, and a mixture of childlike seriousness and humour.
stupid horse
‘I am not from over there I am from here
‘k zen ‘k I'm a thoroughbred at heart
so when the sun shines then ’k I go marching
with my nief bones that fancy that leather
and if it rains me not left
then I wear that rubber one full of holes
and when it snows and the good weather is over
then I leave my bones
in the shoe box
From Stupid Horse, Vadim Levin
in an adaptation by Judith Vindevogel
mikkie mokkie cat
sings a lieke on the mat
‘tis one without tone
‘I don't understand
but ‘tis clean
Shhh... Come in, sit down in our secret little theatre and listen.
A bizarre couple plays with words and sounds to string them together into what at first glance seem absurd fabrications. Songs about a young street dog, two absent-minded professors, a mute horse, a revolutionary village idiot, a failed acquaintance, a winter trip, a bull, an elephant and a lot of rain. But behind these deceptively innocent little stories lies a mysterious, dark world.
Reviews
Indeed, Vadim Levin's verses, extraordinarily shrewd and naive translated into Antwerp by Judith Vindevogel, and Knaifel's seemingly insignificant music, reduced to the bare minimum yet unusually constructed, tell a very different story: That of wonder at the absurdity of the mundane, that of the secret hidden behind and in ordinary old things, that of the smile evoked by language, whether the language of the child or that of ‘ordinary’ people. (...) The conspiratorial nature of this performance, however, is not that of the opponent but that of the child in the (covered) school playground.
Stephan Moens, De Morgen
Stupid Horse is an ode to caution. Silences that are held, words whispered softly, long pauses between piano sounds. The lyrics have something of children's songs: naive and cheerful, with a comic note at the end.
Eefje Rampart, Gazet van Antwerpen
Gradually, the viewer is drawn into a dark ritual world (...) A dramatic tension is created between the textual simplicity and naivete and the singing, which is sometimes lyrical, sometimes rhythmically scandalous, at other times sleepily incantatory.
Jan De Smet, KNACK
This is a bizarre performance where fantasy and banality go hand in hand and atmosphere, song and music lift ordinary children's talk into accessible art full of poetry, humour and wonder. Small but nice.
Eddie Vaes, ZONE 03/
Often the lyrics are reminiscent of Toon Tellegen's. They are idiosyncratically absurd, unfinished and without point, unsettling and giving an uneasy feeling. A dramatic tension emerges between the textual simplicity and naivete and the singing, which is sometimes lyrical, sometimes rhythmically scandalous, at other times sleepily incantatory. Two verses from the sound poem mikkie mokkie makkie muizeke nicely sum up this performance: “’k understand het ni, but ‘t is clean.”
Jan De Smet, Knack
The story of wonder at the absurdity of the mundane, (...) of the secret hidden behind and in ordinary old things, (...) of the smile evoked by language.
Stephan Moens, De Morgen
An ode to caution
Eefje Rampart, Gazet van Antwerpen
Public
Very beautiful. I got to be a kid again for a while. Wanted it to go on much longer.... - Ilmer
I enjoyed this stunning, meticulous beauty. Moving, alienating and wonderfully beautiful. - Claar
Thank you for the extraordinary experience and journey into strange and dark worlds. - Giselle
