Overground Movement (OM)

NEW: Forthcoming Teatrical Spectacle

Philosophical Concept

LACTOBACTERICUM BULGARICUM – The fermentation of “Homo Novus”

Literally LBB is the bacteria from which Yoghurt is made, figuratively, it is the ferment from which a new human species Homo Novus is to be moulded. In ancient times milk was put in lam- skin bags, which were worn on the waste of the ancient settlers, the body temperature and the unique micro-flora of the lamb bags aided the process of fermentation.

But, what do bacteria have to do with New Man? Externally - bacteria are indispensable agents in the process of fermentation, internally - they cause inflammation. Medically- the bacilli stimulate the microbe flora of the colon and reduce the toxic rates, thus creating a new “floral immunity of man”. Bacteria are vital for the sustenance of the inner Homeostasis allowing the individual to tame the billion bacteria living in the human body. The two-fold nature of bacteria is closely related to the dual rational-irrational concept of human psyche. In fermentation we need a source derived product to be exposed to a process of ripening, thus obtaining a new sub-product. This stage of gradual conversion of one product to an improved brand is associated with the three-fold process of Penetration, Saturation and Infusion reminiscent of the absorbing, digesting and assimilating qualities of the human mind. In this case the process of fermentation is analogous to the arousal of multi-dimensional consciousness. When pastry has well risen it is said to have “ripened” for baking. When apples ferment they form cider, when grapes saturate they convert into wine. Cider is a derivative from apple, wine from grapes, bread from wheat. Man is a derivative of the union of male and female forces. The process of fermentation is also referred to as a process of over-concentration of the useful substances of the source, a stage of “leavening” where you leave the product, and allow it to be exposed to forces of nature, without the direct interference of man. Thus, LBB is the organism that aids in the fermentation of Milk into Yoghurt and is the natural shift from the act of being to the act of becoming. For fermentation to occur one needs an adequate flora, a unique microclimate and an organism to fertilize the human Ecosystem.

As we are witnessing a new pluralistic paradigm shift towards integration we’re becoming even more aware of the mental, psychic and spiritual Ecology, which we share as individual parts of a global village. We’re those ever-changing, growing, evolving units, allowing nature to mould our being into a new conscious species. In this sense fermentation has to do with growing, ripening, letting, allowing, welcoming the forces of nature to flow unimpeded trough our body and mind. Fermentation is not a linear, but a cyclic process of periodicity, the wheel of which drives us to self-penetration and actualisation. It is a process of allowing and becoming. It is not important how we’ll allow and what we’ll become. The process itself will yield the necessary results and determine the stages of evolvement. Fermentation requires time, space and bacteria. The fermentation of milk into yoghurt witnesses the process in which man is exposed to a different environment, growing wiser and becoming aware of the transient nature of existence cropping and withering within the cyclic frame of Universal Order. The performance weaves the process of turning milk into yoghurt into the fabric of the ancient Chinese Philosophic and Spiritual monument “The Book of Changes” according to which the world represents a repetition of events, caused by the interaction of the forces of light and darkness through the major stages of human evolution – creation, preservation and destruction. Man is an intermediary between earth and sky subjected to the laws of periodicity and eternal recurrence and cast into the ocean of impermanence. The performance traces the permanent values in this impermanent world.

Milk is the symbol of life and Amrita – the cosmic milk is the divine nectar of Enlightenment.

The symbolic texture of the performance portrays a rich gallery of archetypes, such as the image of the Creator of the Universe, the Concept of Trinity embedded in the story of the Father, the Son and the Holy ghost, the Wandering Hermit seeking the purpose of life, the Consumer and the Constant chain of craving and material attachment, Nirvana – the epitome of eternal bliss and self-realization, etc.

The process of milking is the process of taking, of extracting; the process of fermentation is the process of leavening, of giving and surrendering. In this context fermenting relates to offering. This process of surrendering marks a shift from the preconditioned rationality of the scientist to the unconditioned beginner’s mind of a Zen monk – a “nobody”, who wanders incognito across the Earth, homeless, purposeless, but mindful. Mindful enough to realize, that the purpose of life is in the journey and not in the outcome. Incognito unravels the secret of becoming a “nobody” from being a “somebody”. And the secret is YOGHURT. Incognito features the maturation of “Homosapiens” into a new spiritually aroused and environmentally aware human species, who retrieves his true identity through a process of fermentation from a polar to a multi-dimensional consciousness.