Interdisciplinary+
Cross Disciplinary+
Moving Image Works
Synchronicity of Movement, Expressions through Sound. * video art + installation
What happens if people have free expression through movement and are dancing to the same song, same rhythm, same emotion in a amplified space?
It began with the vision of two dancers within a room of eternal white light.
The space was built by an extremely talented set designer, which was aimed to clear the mind and help each dancer transcend into a deeper level of being. I then asked some friends if they were interested. The only direction’s that were given before the experiment was to listen to Dead Can Dance’s The Host of Seraphim (the soundtrack to the experiment), to abandon the idea of a choreography and to allow whatever expression or movement to happen in the moments of the experiment.
On the day, the dancers came at different times of the day. I didn’t want any insight into the introduction of the process, the space itself or the end result. Each dancer warmed up for about two hours, a similar aim but with different moods and genres, then we recorded.
It’s hard to say that whether the links that i have see over repeated observations of the footage are my own want to see a relationship. It’s an interesting question in itself into perception, but in the end, it’s the observations and interpretations of the viewer that give this footage it’s meaning.
Many many thanks to Courtney Halsted, Dana Kronental and Tania Tobiano for their time and passion. Thanks to Dead Can Dance and 4AD for the use of their track.
Submissive Salon I+II+III
Collaborations with Eye Am Hair salon. Installation art and hairdressing coming together to create a unique sensory and emotion journey for participants.
An independent event that drew inspiration from Dark Mofo atmosphere and mid winter celebration. The work is about letting go of control and opening up to the sensual. Hair, body and senses were submitted to hairdressers and masseurs. Not a sexual tease or deep pain exploration, but a sensory and psychological dive into what a stranger can do with your body. Hands can be tied, mouth and eye’s covered, varying degrees of touch with ice and feathers used. Given along side a massage, haircut or style without a mirror.
A installation of sound and lighting was chosen to heighten the mood and energy for all involved in the performance. Industrial, high energy, sombre and dirty. Original compositions are created for the outside space where enchanted voyeurs enjoy the teasing and testing of masked participants.
In it’s second year, the concept developed and ramped up. Whether it was conscious or not, the hairdressers and masseurs took their role as performance artists to another level. The experience of the participants were generally ecstatic and the atmosphere around the salon was buzzing throughout the festival.
Vocal Movement series - vocalization performance explorations
Terhairium - Biophila salon installation experiment
An installation artwork come hair salon that experimented with the biophila experience on a multi dimension level. The work explored the effect of plants on physical, emotional and psychological levels. It provided participants different sensations that stimulated the experience of biophila, while getting their hair cut or styled.
In the documentation, you see that plant life was a major factor of the installation and had a great effect on the visual sense. On a physical level, the 30-40 plants created changes to the oxygen and humidity levels, creating an inner and outer body experience. In this video you hear parts of the soundscape that was playing throughout the installation. This was setup to acoustically represent a realistic aural experience of hearing and explored a vast number of auditory environments of the non human world. Clothing and accessories were chosen to accentuate the experience, coordinating the colours and materials of what would be worn to represent a visual and tactile reminder of clothing’s roots from plants.
To take the work further, we incorporated actions during the hairdressing services that continued to build upon and explore the biophilla experience. This included silence between hairdresser and participant to allow for a deeper sensory experience, a copal smoking (an act of purification and connection that was developed my the Mayan’s), a tea offering, a misting of water and a totem of nature to be held throughout the experience.
Mona Foma 2019 – Agora Market Area
Reduced Vision Sound Experiments - sensory deprivation installtion + concerts
The idea was to explore performance boundaries by making an entire venue space a stage. Near darkness was chosen as a fundamental to explore and remove the visual divisions between audience and performer. Light in some degree was still relevant to the experiment, so we explored darkness to just visible to light traces, and found that we could distort and disturb the visual sense into a evaporating field of perception. Sound wise, the nights explored trance like states through vocal sound improvisation techniques and improvised movement relating to the sound. The lack of vision being key to becoming more comfortable within the performance to go deeper within the sound, movement and expression.
Melbourne Fringe Festival 2017 – Hosted by Testing Grounds