Clash of Gods is a hybrid performance blending theater, dance, DJ sets, and audiovisual media into a chaotic, multi-layered stage experience. Created by Thomas Burkhalter and Christophe Jaquet, the piece stages a battle between two gods arguing over the state of the world, each using the full arsenal of stage elements—dancers, lights, sound, language, photography, and video—to overpower the other’s perspective. With a grotesque and playful tone, the performance reflects on global culture from a post-colonial lens, mixing pop music, internet trends, stereotypical figures, and voices from non-Western artists and activists.
The video projections played a crucial role in shaping the visual and narrative dynamics of the piece. Designed as a constantly shifting digital collage, they combined original animated graphics, found footage, portrait videos, background landscapes, and integrated subtitles. Aesthetic references ranged from internet culture and commercial advertising to kitsch music videos and meme-like imagery, resulting in a colorful and intense visual assault. Uncoordinated layers of flashy ads, fragmented pop culture clips, and animated typography created a sense of chaotic simultaneity, reinforcing the performance’s sensory saturation. The projections functioned in multiple ways: as a dynamic backdrop amplifying the visual rhythm of the performance, as an additional layer of disruption amplifying the staged excess, and as poetic imagery that counterbalanced the piece’s more aggressive elements. In key moments, video frames provided a structured space for interview portraits of artists and activists accompanied by synchronized subtitles following their spoken words. On-stage footage prepared during the performance was also integrated into the projections, further blurring the boundary between live action and mediated reality.