© Renata Chueire

The title of this piece succinctly describes what Martin Nachbar achieves in his one-hour long, ironically slanted performance. The copyright of the five short dances based on the human emotions of vanity, desire, hate, fear and love, which were once described by Spinoza, belongs to the expressionist dancer, Dore Hoyer. Nachbar has been involved with this dance cycle, which was created in 1962, since 1999. He has succeeded in lifting it, so to speak, out of the depths of history. His interest has already resulted in affects/rework, in collaboration with Thomas Plischke. ‘Urheben Aufheben’ completes this cycle, focussing on the two left parts vanity and love.

Nachbar is, however, not just concerned with a mere reconstruction, or archivisation or even revocation. He plays with the material and turns it into his own. His preoccupation with Affectos Humanos provides him with so much inspiration, that, in the end, his own material predominates. So he becomes archivist and visionary rolled into one. The piece constantly examines the contradictions between the known and the unknown, between past, present and future, and conveys these reflections to the audience. The question of copyright, and what exactly is being revoked (in the memory of the recipient), can only be answered personally by every individual. Just as Nachbar's interpretation of Affectos Humanos remains truly individual.