Jan Adriaans

 

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Performance script:

 

 

EOOOOO            EOOOOO          4 x

high                      low

Ge/Ja/Ju/Mi         Co/Ka

 

 

RA          RA         RA                     8 x

Co/Ge    Ju/Ja      Ka/Mi

 

 

EOOOOO            EOOOOO          4 x

high                      low

Ge/Ja/Ju/Mi         Co/Ka

 

 

RA          RA         RA                     8 x

Co/Ge    Ju/Ja      Ka/Mi

 

 

EOOOOO            EOOOOO          1 x

high                      low

Ge/Ja/Ju/Mi         Co/Ka

 

 

 

How does an identity emerge?

 

Picture a stadium with thousands of fans. Everyone is facing a bright green field bathed in a sea of light. The stadium is packed and they’ve been pumped up by loud music blaring over the speakers. The crowd waits in anticipation. The atmosphere is intense, people start shouting, and here and there chants erupt in the crowd and calm down for a while.

 

Here in this contained space identity is celebrated. This identity is connected to the city or district where the club comes from, Spangen Rotterdam, West Ham London, Dortmund or Bremen. This locality is proudly worn and experienced as such, especially when the match is about to start and the tension rises. Two teams of 11 players recognizable by the colors they wear, start their game. Us, the spectators complete the spectacle by doing everything within our power to influence that game and motivate the players that wear our colours.

 

 

 

POZNAŃ, POZNAŃ                      POZNAŃ, POZNAŃ  POZNAŃ, POZNAŃ

 

 

Ge/Ka/Mi                                        Ge/Ka/Mi

 

 

 

 

Feijenoord   Feijnoord   Feijenoord   Feijenoord   Feijenoord   Feijenoord   Feijenoord    Feijenoord

 

Co/Ju/Ja      Co/Ju/Ja    Co/Ju/Ja     Co/Ju/Ja      Co/Ju/Ja      Co/Ju/Ja      Co/Ju/Ja       Co/Ju/Ja

 

 

 

Oooohhh Oooohhh Oooohhh Oooohhh Oooohhh Oooohhh Oooohhh Oooohhh Oooohhh

Oooohhh Oooohhh Oooohhh Oooohhh Oooohhh Oooohhh Oooohhh Oooohhh

Oooohhh Oooohhh Oooohhh Oooohhh Oooohhh Oooohhh Oooohhh Oooohhh Oooohhh

Oooohhh Oooohhh Oooohhh Oooohhh Oooohhh Oooohhh Oooohhh Oooohhh

Oooohhh Oooohhh Oooohhh Oooohhh Oooohhh Oooohhh Oooohhh Oooohhh Oooohh Oooohh

Oooohhh Oooohhh Oooohhh Oooohhh Oooohhh Oooohhh Oooohhh Oooohhh Oooohhh

 

 

 

Here we are; we are from here; we will be from here until we die.

We will not move! We are loud, louder than the other side!

 

As much as a definition of a group identity against the opponent, the bonding rituals of the fans seem to protest the increasing abstraction in the world of football. Fans have to deal with all the restrictions due to the commercial interests of the club, they’re monitored by surveillance cameras and bio-metrical instruments. But the players and coaches appear to be much less loyal to the club than their fans due to short-term contracts.

 

So yes, the fans remind the club to stay rooted. But if you look deeper into how this local identity of the fans comes about, you can also see the abstractions and contradictions from within.

 

First, we will track how this group feeling is empowered by action. Singing together is such an action. When a song is mobilized, the fans identify themselves internally to be part of this place‐related group, while inviting the external other to recognize this identity. You are with us, or you are the others, and if you don’t jump, you are definitely the others.

 

So there it starts, with one voice, one word. Within a second, hundreds of people hear it. This is a melody so known to us, and we all know the lyrics by heart and by the third word we become aware we’ve already joined in. The song tumbles down the terraces, spreads across to left and right. and by the end of the first line it is one voice again, only this time there are thousands combining as one. Then it breaks down and loses momentum. Another song comes up, somewhere in the crowd, seeking for synchronicity. It demands connection and involvement of all the people who can hear it. And we adapt, constantly by responding to that sensory input.

 

 

 

ALLEEEZ .           LES    ROUGES                           Ge

ALLEEEZ.            LES    ROUGES                           Ge

                             LES    ROUGES                           Ge/Ju

ALLEEEZ.            LES    ROUGES                           Ge/Ju

                                        ROUGES                           Ge/Ju/Co

ALLEEEZ             LES    ROUGES                           Ge/Ju/Co

ALLEEEZ             LES                                               Ge/Ju/Co/Ka

ALLEEEZ.            LES    ROUGES                           Ge/Ju/Co/Ka

                                        ROUGES                           Ge/Ju/Co/Ka/Mi

ALLEEEZ.            LES    ROUGES                           Ge/Ju/Co/Ka/Mi

ALLEEEZ             LES    ROUGES                           Ge/Ju/Co/Ka/Mi/Ja

ALLEEEZ             LES    ROUGES                           Ge/Ju/Co/Ka/Mi/Ja

ALLEEEZ                                                                  Co/Ka/Ge

ALLEEEZ             LES    ROUGES                           Co/Ka/Ge

                             LES    ROUGES                           Ka

ALLEEEZ.            LES    ROUGES                           Ka

                             LES    ROUGES                           Co/Ka

ALLEEEZ.            LES    ROUGES                           Co/Ka

                                        ROUGES                          Ge/Ju/Co/Ka/Mi/Ja

ALLEEEZ.            LES    ROUGES                           Ge//Ju/Co/Ka/Mi/Ja

ALLEEEZ             LES    ROUGES                           Ge/Ju/Co/Ka/Mi/Ja

ALLEEEZ.            LES                                              Ge/Ju/Co/Ka/Mi/Ja

ALLEEEZ             LES                                              Mi

ALLEEEZ.            LES    ROUGES                           Mi

                             LES    ROUGES                           Mi/Ju

ALLEEEZ.            LES    ROUGES                           Mi/Ju

                             LES    ROUGES                           Ka/Ge

ALLEEEZ.            LES    ROUGES                           Ka/Ge

ALLEEEZ                        ROUGES                           Mi/Ju/Co/Ka/Ge

ALLEEEZ.            LES    ROUGES                           Mi/Ju/Co/Ka/Ge

                             LES    ROUGES                           Mi/Ju/Co/Ka/Ge/Ja

ALLEEEZ.            LES                                               Mi/Ju/Co/Ka/Ge/Ja

ALLEEEZ             LES    ROUGES                           Mi/Ju/Co/Ka/Ge

ALLEEEZ             LES    ROUGES                           Mi/Ju/Co/Ka/Ge

ALLEEEZ                                                                   Co/Ka/Ge

ALLEEEZ             LES    ROUGES                           Co/Ka/Ge

                             LES    ROUGES                           Ka

ALLEEEZ.            LES    ROUGES                           Ka

                             LES    ROUGES                           Co/Ka

ALLEEEZ.            LES    ROUGES                           Co/Ka

                                        ROUGES                           Mi/Ju/Co/Ka/Ge/Ja

ALLEEEZ.            LES    ROUGES                           Mi/Ju/Co/Ka/Ge/Ja

 

 

 

It all goes back to the birds and the bees. The fish too. Even slime-molds. Really, it goes to all social creatures that amplify their collective intelligence by forming real-time synchronous systems. We descend not only from monkeys, but also from fish which swim in huge coherent flocks. Certain non-conscious dynamics in a group can be so demanding, it can easily overtake individual reasoning. We’ve all have once seen how an aroused crowd can turn into a herd, acting out of rage or panic. For safety reasons all the stadiums have seats now, and the emotional body has to stay in place but the voice leaving that body can wander, having an effect on others and can make the crowd swarm in sound. We are not panicking here, we are not running away. We are posing our demands on the players. We remind them of who they are playing for.

 

 

 

Clap  -  clap  -  clap clap clap  -  clap clap clap clap

Clap  -  clap  -  clap clap clap  -  clap clap clap clap

Clap  -  clap  -  clap clap clap  -  clap clap clap clap

Clap  -  clap  -  clap clap clap  -  clap clap clap clap

 

Co/Ge/Ju/Ja/Mi

 

 

 

Kathrin starts reading

 

 

 

Clap  -  clap  -  clap clap clap  -  clap clap clap clap

Clap  -  clap  -  clap clap clap  -  clap clap clap clap

 

Ju/Ja

 

 

Singing demands breathing in patterns, we usually breathe after every sentence of the song, this is how basic songs are constructed. And as breathing becomes naturally coordinated by the song structure, heart rates follow. The heartbeat of individuals singing in choirs starts synchronizing, and we become one body. You stay as close as possible to the melody and the rhythm and you articulate the same lyrics as the people in your proximity. We’ re likely to identify more with the people we are singing with, because it functions as a two-way mechanism. If we don’t trust the other there can be no harmony, and because of harmony we trust the other more.

 

 

 

CHEL        SEA       ‘TILL      I        DIE.                     (very slow)

I      ’M       CHEL     SEA     ‘TILL      I      DIE           (very slow)

I   KNOW             I   AM                                             (faster)

I’M SURE I AM                                                          (faster faster)

I’M CHELSEA TILL I DIE                                           (faster, faster, faster)

 

 x 3

 

 

WEST      HAM       ‘TILL      I        DIE.                     (very slow)

I      ’M         WEST     HAM     ‘TILL      I      DIE       (very slow)

I   KNOW   I   AM                                                      (faster)

I’M SURE I AM                                                          (faster faster)

I’M WEST HAM TILL I DIE                                        (faster, faster, faster)

 

 x 3

 

 

 

With melodies borrowed from opera, music hall, pop-music, folksongs, Eurovision, nursery rhymes, military marches, religious hymns, football chants are surprisingly complex creations. The swarm teaches the rest of the audience the lyrics and melody of the Chant, which is made up in the pub or in the stadium. These chants are exchanged between clubs through national and international football competitions and social media. Every fan base appropriates the song and uses it to express their locality. In a different language and tone, a slightly different melody. Songs are part of a capitalistic global network of interaction and adaptation. It is part of commerce and internationalization, as much as it is part of locality and love for a club.

 

If fans want to see a poorly performing coach leave, they’ll express it. Being aware of the transfer market they know how to influence it.

 

The fan-group identity and its chanting carry all the abstractions of the football world inside it and shows us how sentiment and construct can contradict. But still it can be as powerful, joyful and real as screaming a team towards a victory.

 

 

 Aaaaaaahhh

   Aaaaaahhh

   Aaaaaahhh

    Aaaaaahhh

     Aaaaahhh

 

 

Ahh hee

Ge/Ju

 

DE VINCERE

Co/Ge/Ju/Ja

 

DE VINCERE

Co/Ge/Ju/Ja

 

DE  VINCERE

Co/Ge/Ju/Ja

 

VINCERE, VINCERE, VINCERE

Co/Ge/Ju/Ja Ka/Mi

 

8 x

Swarming Chants Acts: Act 1

Nr 1 in the series 3x3 van V2_Lab for Unstable Media

 

 

 

Performance featuring:

 

Cora Schmeiser: Co

Gerwin Luijendijk: Ge

Julien Grossmann: Ju

Kathrin  Wolkowicz: Ka

Michiel Huijben: Mi

Jan Adriaans: Ja