Created in 2009 by Belgian artists Benjamin Vandewalle and Erki De Vries, the first production of Birdwatching had the spectators sitting in a mobile platform which became the actual subject of the choreography. With his continued fascination of the concept of perception, the Antwerp-based dancer and choreographer took the experiment further four years later by developing a mobile observation chamber, Birdwatching 4×4, which functions like a photographic chamber. The vehicle resembles a magic bus, a travelling observatory in the form of a view camera that transports the audience on a choreographed journey across the streets of the city. Framing the moving stage like a camera, the system forces the eye of the spectator to recreate the neighbourhood with their own perspectives, overlaid with the dancers’ performances.

Artists, the city and spectators seemingly pop in and out of the image at random, as day-to-day reality and staged reality become intertwined. Through a mirror effect, as if looking through the lens of a camera, the everyday landscape becomes a testing ground for perspectives, points of view, fragments of vision and the unexpected movements of the dancers. This experimental choreographed journey gradually reshapes reality, causing us to lose our bearings when it comes to perspectives, to better explore our relationship with what is perceptible. A classic from Benjamin Vandewalle, who never ceases to take us on a journey.