Everything Must Go! Connecting the dots between art, activism, and consumer culture

Doors open (incl free drink): 19.00
Start time: 19.30 p.m (50 min.)
Format: Living Art Installation (ticket) + expert panel (free entance + drink)
Registration LINK

Everything Must Go! Connecting the dots between art, activism, and consumer culture.

Why do people steal from shops? Are they forced by poverty or driven by political conviction? With provocative "living installation" Everything Must Go creator Dries Verhoeven delves into the rise of shoplifting in our late-capitalist society. Part of his presentation is a panel discussion in which the themes of the installation are explored from artistic, ethical, and socio-political perspectives.

Set within a replica supermarket aisle under constant surveillance, the installation invites visitors to observe a performer—dressed as Snow White with a pig mask—who embodies the contradictions of consumer culture. As she justifies her actions, she exposes the frictions of a world where economic hardship collides with corporate control. Visitors can explore the space freely, peering between shelves or watching events unfold on CCTV screens, forcing them to confront their own role in this cycle of consumption, morality, and control. 

Verhoeven was inspired by the increase in theft since the introduction of self-checkouts, Verhoeven interviewed people who steal out of necessity, political conviction, or moral ambiguity. These so-called "proletarian shoppers" offer a raw perspective on survival in a system that no longer serves them, challenging the boundaries between crime and resistance.

The Spot On! lecture series from the Faculty of Arts has invited the creator Dries Verhoeven, together with other experts for an insightful panel discussion in Grand Theatre, Groningen. Together they will explore the themes of the installation from artistic, ethical, and socio-political perspectives. 

María Pilar Uribe Silva (Sustainable Fashion Journalist and PhD Candidate at RUG Faculty of Arts) will discuss how current research can improve corporate accountability by exposing deceptive language regarding sustainability. 

Liesbeth Groot Nibbelink (Dramaturg and Assistant Professor in Theatre and Performance Studies at the University of Utrecht) will talk about how Dries Verhoeven’s works organizes spectacting by way of mirroring: through three performances/installations, she will discuss how dramaturgical and scenographic choices lead to the seduction of the viewers to look at themselves.

Moderated by Pieter Verstraete (Theatre Critic and Assistant Professor in Arts, Culture and Media at the RUG Faculty of Arts), this discussion will connect the dots between art, activism, and consumer culture.

• Walk in + free drink: 19:00

• Start Tijd: 19:30 (50 min.)
• Language: English (questions in Dutch possible) 

• Format: Living art installation + expertpanel

• Where: Join us upstairs in the Grand Theatre café

• Entrance: The expert panel session is free, including a free drink

• Entrance to the living art installation is 17 euros (12 euros for students)