photo by Michela Di Savino
The point of departure for this work is a series of listening exercises for exploring the relation between sound, space, and movement. After having presented the exercises as pedagogical tools for more than ten years as part of my workshop practice, I’ve decided to use them as source material for developing choreographed actions and performances.
Exploring the interdependence between touch and sound and the capacity of the body to filter and modulate the propagation of sound in space, the work reflects on the active role of the listener and on their agency to act upon and intervene within the acoustic field.
Video documentation (PSSWRD: “LAI2021″).
performances
HIGH TIDE
photo by Katinka Meersy
A loudspeaker projecting white noise is slowly taken by the high tide. As the tide rises, the white noise gets modulated in relation to the movement of the water. As sound disappears, a feeling of separation and withdrawal fills the people witnessing the loss.
Video documentation (PSSWRD: “HT2020″)
FIRE FROM WITHIN
A selection of firecrackers, fire fountains and fireworks are light up from within a drum set. The explosions grow up to the point where they cannot be contained anymore. The drum set gets on fire and burns down.
The piece reflects on the dramatic end of a body (drum set) that has been fed with fear and doubts about realizing his/her right to self-empowerment and freedom.
THE BLOWS FROM OUTSIDE
A microphone is treated with hot wax drops and eventually set on fire…
the mic is exposed
no armor to wear
facing the world
a punch in the chest
each touch is a mark
each flame is a trace
its body a map that accumulates
the sound it makes
a desperate cry
feeling all those blows
until it dies
photo by Katerina Tamvaki
A LOUDSPEAKER BLOWS UP AND FALLS APART
photo (1,2) by Pieter Kers | Beeld.nu
A loudspeaker blows up and falls apart. The silence that emerges after the explosion emphasises the transition from presence to absence.
ALL OF A SUDDEN
A microphone is placed at the side of a road. A performer is positioned on the opposite side of the road and pulls the microphone from the cable. The microphone keeps crossing the road until it is suddenly hit by passing cars.
EACH TOUCH IS A MARK
A performer walks in a space holding a snare-drum in front of their face. Another performer positions themselves opposite to the other and sets off a number of fire rockets aimed at hitting the snaredrum.”
Developed as a slow walk punctuated with bangs of varying intensity, the action aims to explore the sense of uncertainty one feels when faced with sudden changes.
MY TARGET IS YOUR EYES
photo by Luca Ghedini
A performer tries to hit a microphone with a slingshot. The impact of the hit is amplified and diffused at high volume from a loudspeaker. The amplification of the hit allows the thrower to experience the “sensitivity” of the microphone, or in other words: to understand and share the feelings of another body.
HOW FAR CAN I GET
A performer swings a microphone in the air and loosen the cable a few more inches with each turn. The action continues until the cable is long enough that the microphone crashes against the wall.
The performance is a metaphor about becoming aware of one own’s limitations.
Rough documentation video (PSSWRD: “nevertoofar”)