What does the future hold? non zero one consider the possibilities

non zero one first developed hold hands / lock horns in 2010 as part of an ongoing exploration into how we can be held accountable for our choices. The one-on-one performance invites participants to make a series of choices between two options and, reaching one of 64 end points, they are invited to discuss the reasons behind their choices.

The company have revisited the piece as part of Nesta’s FutureFest at the Shoreditch Town Hall this weekend (28-29 September 2013), an immersive trans-media event with leading figures from science, technology, business and the arts, which considers what the world might feel like over the next few decades.

Here, the six co-founding artists contemplate six of the 64 choices hold hands / lock horns offers participants at FutureFest:

power of flight / invisibility cloak – Cat Harrison

This is our opening gambit, so it was important to us that it was a question that wasn’t too heavy, judgemental or prescriptive, but could help to break the ice.

“This is about you.”

What I love about people’s responses to this question is the variety – some people know their answer immediately and some people really mull. And the reasons why have always been interesting to hear about too – I’ve heard people talk about their families, dreams, favourite methods of transportation, aspiration, inspiration, books they’ve read, superpowers they’d like and philosophies they live their life by – all from this one question.

2014 / 3014 – Fran Miller

For the FutureFest edition of hold hands / lock horns, we wanted to push people to question how far the scope of their own future reaches. When creating the choices for this edition we pushed ourselves to visualise the future; some of us saw flying cars, parks on rooftops, homes on islands in a world mainly of sea. Others could only think in their lifetimes, a more personal future. Perhaps this choice will enable those who land on it to express how they see the world for generations to come.

hold hands / lock horns – Iván González

Not only the title of the show, but also a choice one in eighteen participants will have to make. At first glance it seems obvious, like Love / Hate or Yes / No – I instinctively move towards Hold Hands, but suddenly I change my mind and choose Lock Horns.

Is it because I feel strongly about speaking up for what is right? Or maybe I’m just angry at that commuter who stole my seat this morning… Only those who pick my path will find out.

stick / twist – Alex Turner

The choices that we as performers offer people as they move along a choice map across the floor aren’t connected to each other and it’s fun to see surprise and intrigue as we ask them. It’s really interesting when participants talk about what went through their mind as they considered the choice – what context do you ground your answer in?

Do I think about playing cards? Is it about a decision I need to make soon? My life philosophy? Do I like a gamble? I’ll go with twist.

infinite / it always ends – Sarah Butcher

Posed in the context of a festival about the future this choice might immediately read as a comment on human existence, the world, perhaps you could even go as far as to say we're talking about the Universe in it's entirety.

Of course, how much you pertain to consider any of these things, and how you relate them to the words of "infinite" and "ends" is entirely down to you. I hear them and I think about love, growing old and the feeling of everything being possible – but that's just me on Tuesday 10th September at 13:32.

I know / I can imagine – John Hunter

What do we know about The Future? Absolutely nothing. Name something? You don’t know that. Our future may be built on what we know, but its path will be determined by what we can imagine. Existing in this permanent state of endless possibility could get daunting, until we remember that yesterday, The Future was today, where we had our cereal and went to work and came home and watched 4OD. Imagine how we might do it differently tomorrow.

FutureFest is at Shoreditch Town Hall this weekend (28/29 September). Click here for more details.