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hofizički pritisak na izvođače, oni se umaraju, koncentracija im popusta, tako da s vremenom postajo ranjivi, gledaoci ih doživljavaju ne kao likove več kao stvarne ljude - baš kao u performansu. Samo trajanje briše razliku izmedu umetnosti i života, nešto što počinje kao strukturisano umetničko delo završava se potpuno drugačije, zaključuje Ečels. Dvome se može dodati da trajanje ima isti efekat i na gledaoce, pa da se i s njihove Strane, tokom izvodenja, polako briše granica između umetnosti i života (zadrema se, ili se na neki drugi način relativizuju pozorišne konvencije). Polemički nastrojen prema fenomenu dugih predstava, Moren ističe njihove paradokse, između ostalog i težnju ka beskonačnosti (može biti i samo implicitna). Paradoks beskonačnosti jeste taj što se ona u potpunosti opire mimezisu: po definiciji, ne može se predstaviti, U vezi s tim, Moren i Marija Ševcova ističu da Bob Vilson, čiji su i čuveni rani radovi eksperimentisali s vremenom, periodično sanja o beskonačnoj predstavi, a koju bi gledaoci, naravno, gledali s prekidima, sporadično... Upravo zbog tih nužnih prekida i sporadičnosti, težnja ka beskonačnom izvodenju, tvrdi francuski teoretičar, postaje dodatno paradoksalna: kao u nekim vrlo dugim performansima Marine Abramovič ili Tehčinga Šiej višak prerasta u nedostatak, prazninu. Osim čisto estetskih, duge predstave imaju i društveni, pa čak i politički aspekt. Dugo trajanje utice, kao što je istaknuto, i na samu publiku. Traži da se prepustimo ritmu i energetskim talasima takve predstave, te da se, u sadejstvu s drugim gledaocima i izvodačima, oslobodimo svakodnevnih stega, onih koje nam je civilizacija vekovima nametala. Kao takva, predstava koja vrlo dugo traje postaje proživljena civilizacijska, politička alternativa našem svetu užurbanosti, površnosti, ishitrenosti... S ovim se shvatanjem slažu svi teoretičari koji su poslednjih godina ispitivaii fenomen dugih predstava. Ono odgovara i Lemanovoj hipotezi o samim izvodačkim formama, te načinima komunikacije između gledalaca i izvodača kao specifičnoj manifestaciji političnosti u postdramskom pozorištu. Umesto da se prilagodi vremenu brzine, pozorište se sve češče, naglašava Žorž Bani, postavlja polemički i kritički, ponovo otkriva i slavi sporost koja je odlikovala davno prošla vremena. I u ovom' pogledu Fredrik Moren uočava kontradiktornost i paradoksalnost dugih izvodenja. On takode prevashodno ističe da su duge predstave (politička) subverzija savremene civilizacije zasnovane na sveopštoj disperziji, übrzanju, isplatIjivosti, mogučnosti da nešto postane predmet konzumacije. S druge Strane, Moren upozorava da je upravo predimenzioniranost onaj „kvalitet" preko kog savremeno društvo „obilja i razuzdanog umnožavanja" vrši komodifikaciju umetnosti.
Forced Entertainment, a British company whose durational performances have gained a worldwide reputation. Long duration applies psycho-physical pressure on the performers, they get tired, their concentration weakens and, over time, they become vulnerable: the audience no longer sees them as characters, but as real people - just like in performance art. Mere duration erases the difference between art and life - something that begins as a structured work of art ends in a completely different way, Etchells concludes. We might add that duration exerts the same effect on the audience, since in them, too, as the performance goes on, the boundary between art and life disappears (they start nodding off or deconstructing theatrical conventions in some other way). Critically addressing the phenomenon of long performances, Maurin points to their paradoxes, including the aspiration to infinity (it can only be implicit). The paradox of infinity is that by definition it totally resists mimesis: it cannot be represented. In this regard, Maurin and Maria Shevtsvoa argue that Bob Wilson, whose early works famously experimented with time, periodically dreams about an infinite performance, which the audience would naturally watch intermittently, sporadically... It is exactly due to these inevitable breaks and sporadic nature that the aspiration to an infinite performance. Maurin asserts, becomes even more paradoxical, as in some very long performances of Marina Abramovič and Tehching Hsieh, when the surplus becomes a deficiency, a void. Apart from purely aesthetic aspects, durational performances also have social and even political ones. As 1 have already pointed out, long duration affects the spectators themselves. We are asked to yield to the rhythm and energy waves of such a performance and, together with the rest of the audience and the performers, shed the shackles that civilisation has imposed on us for centuries. As such, a long-lasting performance becomes an experienced, civilisational, political alternative to our everyday hastiness, superficiality, rashness... This viewpoint is shared by ail theorists who have recently addressed the phenomenon of durational performances, it also agrees with Lehmann’s hypothesis about performing forms themselves and ways of communication between spectators and performers as a specific manifestation of politicality in postdramatic theatre. As Georges Banu points out, rather than adjust to an age of speed, the theatre increasingly assumes a polemical and critical attitude, rediscovers and celebrates slowness, a characteristic feature of times long past. Here Maurin sees another indication of the contradictory and paradoxical nature of long performances. He basically asserts that durational performances constitute a (political) subversion of modern civilisation, based on universal dispersion, acceleration, profitability, the possibility to turn anything into an object of consumption. On the other hand, Maurin