Conspiracy theories have been around for centuries. From the first humans on Earth who tried to explain natural phenomena through the concept of Gods, fast forward to Hitler's idea to the perfect society consisting of pale people with blond hair and blue eyes, to the current resurfacing of the belief of a Flat Earth. It almost feels like humanity is, in a way, going backwards. Things that have been proven through satellite pictures, people are now looking back on and questioning whether it is real. It almost feels like a trend to be controversial and to believe things that go against societal norms that have been scientifically proven. Because... what if it is a houx? People nowadays need to see it with their own eyes to believe it. So, until proven otherwise, the Earth is indeed flat.
What I found very fascinating when researching about Flat Earthers was that all the sources were American. Even in a BBC interview, the people speaking were all American. There are, apparently, conventions organised in Raleigh, North Carolina, where like-minded people can meet, talk, feel less alone and share theories, ideas. Now this immediately raises the question, is this only happening in America? Why?
With the piece 'Flat Earthlings' I would like to start up this conversation in the UK. It would be interesting to do the project in different parts of the United Kingdom. How differently would Irish, Scottish, English and Welsh people react? But also, people from smaller or bigger cities within the countries.
I propose a durational performance piece, in which a person stands still for the duration of at least 12 hours, with their arms propped up, balancing the Flat Earth on their shoulders. By standing for so long, we would be able to see the effect of the sun's positioning on the replica of the planet and how it would look if it were indeed flat.
I propose a durational performance piece, in which a person stands still for the duration of at least 12 hours, with their arms propped up, balancing the Flat Earth on their shoulders. By standing for so long, we would be able to see the effect of the sun's positioning on the replica of the planet and how it would look if it were indeed flat.
As the piece is happening, there would be a person, in the role of a journalist, with a cameraman, interviewing spectators. I am interested in the response and conversations that arise from this piece. Is there a hidden Flat-Earth community in the UK that simply is not as vocal as the American ones? Or is the community concerned with more mundane everyday tasks rather than thinking about the world around us? What do people here believe in, what other conspiracy theories are there that are unique to British people?
All the interview will later be combined into a documentary film and the direction it would go into would fully depend on the response of the spectators.
