For my digital ‘Representing a space’ project, the concept of representing one through movement immediately came to my mind on the digital part.
I wanted to create an unusual atmosphere through using my friend, Kathryn, as a means of representing the louvre. This entailed the different light circumstances as well as the different cultures and art medias. When it came to the choreography, I wanted her to have complete creative freedom over the movements of her body, her perception of the room as well as the works of art. Through this means of improvisation, she would become an artwork herself, exhibited in the Louvre.
I believe through the contrast of the non-moving statues and paintings, we also created a question of human representation in society through works of art. As we wandered through the whole of the museum, we became aware of the richness of minds and eras mirrored in this space, being quite overwhelmed with the beauty and intensity. As means of capture the scene, we used a Tripod, which we ended up not using, and a Nikon D5100.
Her body movements varied from moving on the floor to jumping in the air to squatting in front of sitting statues. When we explored the lightings in the museum; artificially and naturally produced, I also saw the dancer as a part of light and space. When it came to other people, they appreciated Kathryn as an unusual work of art as well as a surprise. As she danced in the crowd she seemed tranquil and as if she was listening to her own music and responding with her movement.
It was quite an unusual experience as we were not officially allowed to take the videos so time was of essence. When Kathryn improvised her movement, she had no time to think about them, she was forced to recreate the atmosphere of the room as she took it in on the spot. It explored a woman’s relationship to art and her own body and therefor became an intimate and personal experience for both me and Mona as the camerawomen, and Kathryn as the dancer.
When it came to mirroring the feeling we had in the moment with the audio, I had some trouble deciding on what I should add to the video, as the dances where very intimate and not based on a certain type of music or a rhythm. As I played around with different types of music, I decided to adopt the concept of a ‘silent disco’. A ‘silent disco’ is mostly a club where people dance to their own music, to create an authentic feeling of joy and preference over music. Which means when I play the video for an audience, I ask the audience to take headphones and watch the movements while listening to their music of preference. This creates an intimate relation between the dancer and mirrors my own experience while watching Kathryn dance in person.
