Maj Hasager
Rector
Bifurcating Futures
Other contributions
- Maj Hasager
Summary, in English
Bifurcating Futures, 2014
HD video, 9:46 min.
Through the staging of an experienced dancer, the video work Bifurcating Futures explores the body’s limitations and potentials in relation to modernist and futuristic architecture in the Esposizione Universale di Roma (EUR) district of Rome. The dancer’s movements are ruptured by fragments from Thom Donovan’s poem “The Commons.”
In the video, the dancer moves in and around the spectacular urban site and constructed park of EUR to a soundtrack composed of sounds recorded from the futuristic urban architecture as well as mechanical noises. The soundtrack takes inspiration from the ideas of the Italian futurist movement, which celebrated the power, speed, and especially noise of cities and machinery. These qualities were reflected in the art produced by the futurists, as described in Luigi Russolo’s 1913 manifesto The Art of Noises (L’Arte dei Rumori).
The choreography of Bifurcating Futures departs from the dancer’s experience—a method inspired by Pina Bausch, who approached her work with the motto, “There is no script. There is no set design. There is no music. There is only life and oneself.” Without a pre-existing formal framework, one is created through improvisation and physical experiences. In this way, something new can emerge. This method is far from traditional cinematic techniques of staging and closer to the idea of documentary, where coincidence appears, thus creating a space for the unplanned.
HD video, 9:46 min.
Through the staging of an experienced dancer, the video work Bifurcating Futures explores the body’s limitations and potentials in relation to modernist and futuristic architecture in the Esposizione Universale di Roma (EUR) district of Rome. The dancer’s movements are ruptured by fragments from Thom Donovan’s poem “The Commons.”
In the video, the dancer moves in and around the spectacular urban site and constructed park of EUR to a soundtrack composed of sounds recorded from the futuristic urban architecture as well as mechanical noises. The soundtrack takes inspiration from the ideas of the Italian futurist movement, which celebrated the power, speed, and especially noise of cities and machinery. These qualities were reflected in the art produced by the futurists, as described in Luigi Russolo’s 1913 manifesto The Art of Noises (L’Arte dei Rumori).
The choreography of Bifurcating Futures departs from the dancer’s experience—a method inspired by Pina Bausch, who approached her work with the motto, “There is no script. There is no set design. There is no music. There is only life and oneself.” Without a pre-existing formal framework, one is created through improvisation and physical experiences. In this way, something new can emerge. This method is far from traditional cinematic techniques of staging and closer to the idea of documentary, where coincidence appears, thus creating a space for the unplanned.
Department/s
- Malmö Art Academy
Publishing year
2014
Language
English
Document type
Artistic work
Publisher
Maj Hasager
Status
Published