Hey folks
Here are two pieces work that I've been a part of: work that I've performed/choreographed in and work that I've co-directed/edited/shot. My work is often described as "idiosyncratic, intense, and surprising." I don't think "good" art requires virtuosity, rather a meticulous approach to detail and intent.
I enjoy work that's stylized, direct, and intense. I think we're past a time where we should be gentle with what we need to say. Lloyd Newson, the artistic director of DV8, makes work which underscores many of the qualities I strive for, while also delivering a cutting critique of religious structures, sexuality, and isolation.
Strange Fish - DV8 from Andressa Furletti on Vimeo.
I love your statement on having a detailed intent rather than being a virtuoso, it's something I definitely agree with. I'm so interested in the choice in the first video you linked to have the lighting focus on the still figure playing the instrument and only having dim lighting on the moving figures; it makes me very aware of where I am putting my attention.
ReplyDeleteDV8's work is incredible! Their work is absolutely beautiful without losing any potency in the message they get across.
I like the common thread through all the work you showed of raw emotion. There's very little abstraction or metaphor, instead favoring a more direct approach to peoples' minds and hearts. Through this kind of work I believe there is greater potential for catharsis.
ReplyDeleteI also love the combination of dance and theater- I'm coming to learn that I personally can't avoid emotion, as I think it's the track that dance rides on and is reinforced by. I agree that skill isn't needed to effectively communicate a message, but more-so never ending dedication to what you're trying to share and specifically how, whether that be timing, direction, etc.
ReplyDeleteSo much love for DV8! Especially as I'm steering further and further away from traditional, post-modernesque approaches to dance that are way too abstract to be any form of relevant or intriguing (in my opinion!).
I remember seeing you perform this piece and asking myself how long you and Sherry were going to stick with the accumulation. I'm not sure if this was your intention at all, but I was definitely thinking about the ways you were testing our stamina as an audience (in addition to your mental/physical stamina).
ReplyDeleteI like the staging of the duet in Strange Fish around 15:45min. The set design and body of the onlooker gives the movement a richness.
I had a really hard time loading the first two videos - but speaking to our collaboration - it was really interesting exploring such simple ideas in both - the Accumulation and the dragging piece - but experience a lot of different emotions through the arc of it? I want to definitely do more stuff like that and explore what helped created this since of evolution in two pieces that had a minimal sense of visual or auditory "progress".
ReplyDeleteLove the DV8 piece - it's pretty much the opposite of that minimal sense of progress. There is a definite sense of transitional material that moves along, which is effective in it's own way.
I agree that art can have many approaches that makes it good...does that mean all art is good? Probably. I generally follow the generic rule that if you don't like something, you probably don't like it yet. Anyways, I am interested in the way detailed visuals can be experimented with in performance. I think it'd be interesting to collaborate with visual artists as well as detailed artists alike!
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with your take on virtuosity, and I am a big fan of meticulousness/tedium in artmaking. I really appreciated the patience in your first video. I also recognized some faces and places in the second vid! I think maybe using some turbulent displacement and time displacement in after effects might help the "psychedelic" scenes, ha. The DV8 piece was very intense and almost vocal in the choreography.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your idea about virtuocity, I really enjoy deconstructing preconceived notions of good and bad in order to make music that one really enjoys.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with your point about virtuosity. As a performer who is often asked to re-produce virtuosity performances or compositions, you encouraged me think about how virtuosity itself is not the art, but perhaps one path to an artistic goal. I think the cultural fixation with virtuosity might be related to what I brought up in our group conversation about relating to performances mimetically.
ReplyDeleteI've never actually heard of DV8, but the breadth of the example you provided seems great. It covers so much without literally saying it.
I think this kind of work is perfect for interpretation of sound through visuals, and I would be really interested to see how you could incorporate something like this into a project for the class. The first video was so light hearted and fun but in a captivating and patient way. I was expecting the music or dance to get progressivly louder or to change drastically, but rather, it evolved in a slow and meticulous way which I appreciated.
ReplyDeleteI'm a sucker for works like the first, which involve the elaboration of simple cellular phenomenon. (And I fully agree with your statement about meticulous detail vs virtuosity.) That idea underscores a lot of minimalism, but also lots of serialist and new complexity movement. Not to mention Pina Bausch. This reminds me of the works of Tom Johnson and Matthew Shlomowitz, which I highly recommend.
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