SCRUPUS

KANDINSKY. It has remained the content of any mannerist art. The Idea in the Idea, the absolute Idea in the spiritual conception remains veiled in mystery. Only its working is suspected: as being magic.

– The World as a Labyrinth – Gustav René Hocke

Due to the intellectualization of art, artistic discourses are usually only negotiated among an elite of experts. The majority of society lacks accessibility and remains excluded. In order not to have to correct the disproportion between artwork and audience afterwards through mediation offers, the perspective of the majority society must already be considered in the conception and realization of the artwork. Physical experiences as the basis of a universally human perception offer possibilities to communicate beyond the boundaries of intellectual education.

Due to the intellectualization of art, artistic discourses are usually only negotiated among an elite of experts. The majority of society lacks accessibility and remains excluded. In order not to have to correct the disproportion between artwork and audience afterwards through mediation offers, the perspective of the majority society must already be considered in the conception and realization of the artwork. Physical experiences as the basis of a universally human perception offer possibilities to communicate beyond the boundaries of intellectual education.

In a world of images, the body-as-object has gained the upper hand over the body-as-subject, which constantly evades our grasp. As we increasingly recognize our own bodies via images, we suffer a kind of double vision.

Nathalie Herschdorfer – Body

Our self-image is composed of the Experiential Self and the Narrative Self. The Experiential Self is composed of immediate sensory experiences, whereas the Narrative Self is composed of the images and stories that others and we tell about ourselves. Our self-image is more influenced by the Narrative Self than by the Experiential Self.This circumstance is reinforced by increasing digitization.* Visual experiences tempt to move us increasingly into the analytical and rational, pushing us away from bodily sensory experiences. As a counter to digitalization, I do not want to fight the visual, but to elaborate haptic qualities in the sense of sight.

Juhani Pallasmaa – the Eyes of the Skin

Architecture is our primary’ instrument in relating us with space and time, and giving these dimensions a human measure. Modernist design at large has housed the intellect and the eye, but it has left the body and the other senses, as well as our memories, imagination and dreams, homeless.                    

Juhani Pallasmaa – the Eyes of the Skin

Personal motivation

 Since the lockdown, opportunities for battles (competitions)* and performances have minimized. With free time and relief from the pressure to perform and produce, I spent the last two years deeply immersed in the creative process. Isolated practice became the only way for me to express, explore, and live dance. I am reorienting my artistic practice, especially my exploration in dance, away from Battles and toward exploring other formats and ways to combine the disciplines I have practiced for years -. *essential part of Hip Hop culture, valued for dance expression, originality, spontaneity and technique.

Political relevance      

In the spirit of sustainability, the local, public space is used as a place of action. Reuse and repositioning of other existing artistic works are practiced. With the development of working methods that can adapt to local conditions and are universally applicable, both physically and digitally, global developments are negotiated using local means. Both a local audience and a global audience are addressed at the same time. This is in line with the current zeitgeist. With SCRUPUS, the academicized understanding of values, which art is good art, is questioned. The boundaries between consumer and producer become blurred. With art accessible to the majority, social privilege structures are counteracted. Art is no longer reserved for an educated elite.

Artistic relevance

In today’s technological world, we seem to experience an alienation and loneliness to our own bodies. Digitalization is shaping the cultural landscape and thus our understanding of culture. The method developed in SCRUPUS both addresses and critiques this understanding of culture. Dance as a discipline with the body as a medium celebrates the connection of the human being to oneself. By elaborating the haptic qualities in the sense of sight, the viewer benefit from the connection to themselves that is intrinsic to dance.

The research deals with three fields of research and their interaction with each other. In their encounter, I search for the conditions and possibilities of mutual influences on each other with the aim of creating an illusion of weightlessness and disorientation. This is equally revealed by the type of movement as well as the precisely guided camera perspective. The movements for a convincing illusion are technically demanding and require a quality of their own, which is why their development requires an in-depth examination. Furthermore, the guided view through the camera has a decisive influence on the effect of the dance movements – through the perspective on the body, the chosen detail as well as the sequence of movements. The symbiosis requires a close, processual way of working, in which both media influence and coordinate each other. The following questions structure my project of developing an artistic method for the interaction of dance, film and architecture.

• How can dance in digital space contribute to the practice and thus the experience of this connection and not drive us further into alienation through the visual world?

• Which movements and body shapes create the illusion of weightlessness and disorientation?

• How can dance in digital space contribute to the practice and thus the experience of this connection and not drive us further into alienation through the visual world?
  
  What emerges from the sum of the actors’ actions and reactions?

• Which movements and body shapes create the illusion of weightlessness and disorientation?

• How do I develop a method with different actors to maintain the vision without inhibiting their creativity and expression?

• What emerges from the sum of the actors’ actions and reactions?

• How do I develop a method with different actors to maintain the vision without inhibiting their creativity and expression?

Dance

My dance practice is based on the dance style Breaking. This involves a continual creation of forms and description of volume through movement and poses with the body using precise use of strength, flexibility, tension, rhythm, direction, form and balance. With a focus on isolations and rotations around anchor points, the movements are based on the supporting and sustaining functions of the body. These approaches can also be found in yoga. Contrary to the dynamic, explosive and extroverted aspects in Breaking, the poses call for calm and reflection trough centering the forces and establishing balance, internally as well as in relation to the environment. For this reason I work with these two techniques. My method of movement development can be understood as sculpting by means of a medium that is conditioned by time. The legs are no longer the main support of the body, which, in contrast to many other dance techniques, breaks the verticality. The play with different body axes seems to suspend the laws of gravity for brief moments. Technically sophisticated moments of illusory overcoming of gravity are complemented by authentic dance movements. The extended possibilities of supporting the body – via the inclusion of architectural elements such as walls and ceilings – form an essential element of the dance research subject. Furthermore, the focus is on exploring choreographic possibilities and ways of working to elaborate a movement language that creates illusory effects of weightlessness and disorientation.

• Which movements and body shapes create the illusion of weightlessness and disorientation?
• How can walls and ceilings be used as additional support elements?
• How do these additional support elements flow into the creation of the illusion?
• What dance qualities emerge when the dancing body is asked to come into direct contact with the walls and ceiling?
• What possibilities open up in the movements of two people for creating illusory effects of weightlessness and disorientation?
• How does the second person expand the space and what effects does it have on the illusion?
• How do the persons act as supporting elements for each other?

Film  

The medium of film is an integral part of the research process, deliberately used as an element of style and part of the authorship. Film has shaped our perception of dance since its inception – with all the possibilities for its practice and presentation. Nowadays, the viewing of dance increasingly takes place in digital form, which has been reinforced by the situation of the pandemic. It’s becoming more accessible, the process of curation is transforming, and dance is reaching a wider audience. Incorporated in this evolution, the medium of film finds its relevance in this research, on the one hand, as a documentary tool that makes a site-specific work accessible through time and space. On the other hand, it becomes an integral component for generating the desired illusion of weightlessness, which dissolves the boundaries of the body and allows it to merge with the space.

The focus in the technical research is on the play with the directed gaze, large and small sections and the changes in perspective, whereby walls transform into floors and ceilings become walls. Such dynamic changes of perspective require sophisticated camera work. The handling of the gimbal (device for external image stabilization) has to be tested for the dialogue with the dance and the technical handling has to be developed.

The viewing and editing of the video material is an integral part of the research subject. The images will be examined for the illusion of weightlessness and disorientation. By sequencing movements and points of view, new references are made and narratives are developed that open up new spaces and allow different realities to intertwine.

• How does the movement of the dancers complement those of the camera?
• What dance adaptations are needed when the dance is designed to fit the camera movement?
• The cinematic means enable us to transform the walls and ceilings into a floor via the gaze. How do we adapt the movements to these means?

Architecture

Inspired by a dance culture that comes from the street, I consciously seek a dialogue with the urban environment. Architecture is selected with a focus on direct proportionality to the human body. Situations are sought that favour formal abstraction and play with gravity in dance. The local conditions serve the further development of the movement systematics. The method breaks away from the classical stage as a presentation format and seeks new ones. The focus is on the development of a universally applicable working method in order to be able to adapt dance and film to the local conditions.

Camera, editing | Jelïn Nichele

Dance, choreography | Lisa Horten, Sabri Colin, Timo Paris

Sounddesign, composition | Janiv Oron

Music, composition | Emiliano Mendez aka. El Jazzy Chavo

Cello | Miguel Angel

Violin | Juan Maria Braceras

Keyboard | Ian Caron

Onde Martenot | Ludovic van Hellemont

Mentor dance | Béatrice Goetz

Mentor architecture & scenography | Nicolas Hünerwadel