'Age of Ledger' projects
A JauArtist Project / Produced by Project Aukse
This series of works, reflects upon the economic, social, and political issues that have concerned Joseph.
‘STAFF ID: 5201’, was the first self-performed solo work in the series, addressing the impact of political and economic movements upon everyday people using the Reagan’s speech ‘A Time for Choosing’ and Chinese Exercise Music as the aural backdrop to question the motivations of Austerity imposed upon British people as a consequence of the 2008 Global Financial Crisis and question how humans are viewed as economic resources. ‘STAFF ID: 5201’ evolved to become a second longer solo work, ‘The Age of Ledger’ which included personal stories from people in Joseph's life as a finance professional as well as stories of Joseph's father to share and bring a lived reality and relatability to audiences. ‘The Age of Ledger’ has become an umbrella title for projects that are a part of Joseph's ongoing research interests and work that intersects economic theory, artistic & cultural identity (including migrant identity), trade history & globalisation, value systems and colonialism. In the creation of these works Joseph has sought to combine expanded and sometimes surreal imagery with verbatim content and a physically that moves between character, metaphor and effort.
“The Age of Ledger by dancer and choreographer Joseph Lau ... is a fully realised dystopian physical theatre work exploring the psychological and social impact of money and economics and the disproportionate role they have in ‘governing our world and disempowering the individual’...Lau brings impressive range, physical commitment and enormous personal charisma to this wide-ranging examination of the futility and optimistic hopelessness of trying to function as a vital and yet individually irrelevant pawn in a financial machine that makes little sense and clearly doesn’t function well, for all its high-level economic theory and claims of fiscal and social responsibly. Lau, long based in the north-west, brings elements from his Australian-Chinese heritage to create an expansive and considered global dimension to the work, yet manages to keep his lens focused on the personal impact of being little more than a component – always potentially a superfluous one, an obstacle to efficiency – within a faceless and unwieldy machine. This is an effective, audacious, fully realised piece of dance theatre that pulls a range of physical and emotional punches with its considered and well-chosen use of text and music.”
- Peter Jacobs The Public Reviews -
