We all have moments in life where we feel defeated, vulnerable, mistreated, sad, lonely, or excluded. In such moments we look for ways to find ourselves again, we crave for a survival guide to our own life, we have a hunger for connection and community as an antidote for loneliness and exclusion. In order to not be alone during those times, Tom Van der Borght develops a series of 7 rituals, based on 7 stages of his own life and experiences. It introduces the audience into the TVDB universe, through the method of extreme self-portrait, awareness, and sensibility for the “strong”’ and the “special”.

His ongoing artistic research explores the representation and celebration of non-normative bodies in a myriad of fashion, performance, and visual art. In ‘Act 01: Create a Safe Cocoon ’high-tech bricolage fashion is placed in a framework of a low-tech procession. 7 outfits created out of 7 limited non-normative fashion materials are at the core of this performance and are an exploration of the concept of restriction as a base for experiment and materialization. 7 is and will always be a magic number…