British artist Tim Etchells : Brexit: a Lot of people want a second vote

Forced Entertainment, the performance troupe that he directs: Tim Etchells, who also works as a visual artist and author, lives in London and Sheffield. In Berlin Etchells is primarily associated with the HAU artist.

Mr. Etchells, you can make this all political Theater to the Brexit a rhyme?

I don't want to leave the EU, and I know of no one who wants to. It is depressing, now it's happening with such a mess.

How your everyday life is affected?

Since the Referendum, the climate is poisoned here, politically. There has been a rise in racist attacks, this is clearly documented. Xenophobia we had before, but what shows now, goes very deep. This is worse than any inconvenience of a Brexit.

This climate will not be forgiven?

I'm afraid this social cleavage will remain for the next 50 years.

It is a crazy scene there in London. How do you see this as a performance artist? Anarchy in the UK, such as the Sex Pistols sang once?

I look at the debates in Parliament only in excerpts. It's all very heavily coded. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn shows the old left cynicism, he is playing for time, but that seems to be going wrong. Theresa May refers everything to itself. In this Brexit-the dispute is in truth a struggle between the center and the right wing of the Tory Party. The right-wing media reinforce what is there came a sudden high in nationalism.

you Brits are with these developments, not only in Europe and in the world.

no, of course not. It also has to do with Trump and the Russians. Without a doubt, Russian money was used in social media in order to influence elections, the Russians welcome the departure of Britain from the EU, the division and weakening of the West.

you work a lot on the continent, in cooperation. How is the impact of Brexit on their activities?

We have benefited from the free movement of persons and freedom of movement in Europe. If one now needs a Visa and I don't know what papers otherwise, it's gonna cost us a lot of money and time. All the logistics will be difficult, but that depends on how we make the finish. This is very troubling. If the pound drops, then we are also as an artist in Europe and cheap goods.

you sound completely depressed. There is not any hope strip, in spite of everything?

Many people here hope for a second Referendum. But neither the one nor the Corbyn to May. I'm also not sure if we would win Remainers. I would welcome a new vote on Europe. But it would be a dance on the razor's edge.

And what to expect the Brexit Fans?

There are in England many of the areas in which the people were forgotten, and it's been going on for a long time. In these areas, it was strongly voted in favour of the Brexit, because people associate them with the hope of improving their social situation. That's what populists them. But I think the opposite is the case. The Brexit will worsen the situation. You voted for something not even Theresa May know what it means.

Before the Brexit vote, The calculus of the opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn

interview by Rüdiger Schaper.