The swarm, a research of the relationship between movement, sound and emotion.
I am afraid this is going to be huge, gigantic and overwhelming. So impactful that I am shivering only from the idea. It is breathtaking and thereby bigger than me, bigger than what one artist can evoke.
Is it that what makes me hesitating and pulsating at the same time? Is that why I am holding back ànd feeling rushed. Pulling and pushing? Like the dance that I see in my minds eye.
I see art, that is clear, I hear overpowering music, immersive in its subtle delicacy and in its brutal force. I feel movement, bodies breathing, shoulder by shoulder, feet following the cadence of the other feet, feet following feet, following feet as in a swarm not one individual knows where it is going. Taken by the energy of the group the individual impuls evaporates. As a swarm guided by the sound that travels trough space not thinking but doing, not evaluating but experiencing. Totally in the state of being. Absorbed by the now. Engaged with the whole body exploring the sense of surrender in the flow of not knowing.
MOVE
Where shall I start? With a group of dancers/movers that travel through space as a swarm. I have done this over and over again and it is so deeply meditative. Going from one side of the space to the other, surrendering to the moment and to each other. Not one individual can take more space than the other, not one can ask for the attention on its person. We dissolve.
LISTENING AND BODY PARTS
Let the sound travel through space.
What sound do I need to guide the swarm, to make it move. What brings people into movement? To be clear: I don’t see complex movement. The elements of speed, direction, intensity are the base. Some body parts are essential.
The hart that lies in the chest. Chest open directed to the front or to the sky, chest closed directed downwards.
The pelvic floor rooted to the ground by feet that anchor deep, or uplifted by feet that step lightly over the floor.
The head up, down, tipped, turned,…
The instruction that the swarm gets is very simple: follow the sound through space. But what sound shall I use? What sound resonates with which body part?
And what if I turn this the other way around. I let the group move like I did before, without the instruction of following the sound and I track the movement and translate it to sound! Give the sound back to the group, and start from there.This is a research that takes time.
To be sure that the results are evolving because the sounds are better adjusted to the purpose I need to experiment with different groups of people. Otherwise people learn how to interact with the sound and then I evaluate the learning and not the efficiency of the sound.
THE LINK WITH EMOTION
Each time a group has an experience they are inquired what the people’s emotional experience is. Together with this information and the measured parameters as heartbeat, warmth, posture… it gives a vivat image of the relation between movement, sound and emotion.
THE POWER OF ATTENTION
As an artist I am mostly interested in the impact of al this on the viewer. What is the role of the witnes of al this?
In my perspective the impact of attention is underestimated in different layers in our society. The energy of witnessing is an attention that fuels an action, that directs a motion, that has a responsibility in the co-creation of the moment. To underline this the audience is measured as wel on the level of heartbeat, warmth, ….
So in this immersive meditative group experience the eye and body that perceives it is very much included. The sound is not only influenced and oriented by the parameters measured of the swarm, but what if the measurements of the audience can define the sound and by doing so guiding the swarm to heights and lows. I predict implosions and explosions.
WHICH SOUNDS
I see myself collecting sounds that have as a source a real vibration. An acoustic instrument, human or animal voices.
I see myself in front of a symphonic orchestra, chamber orchestra, repetition studio’s…making samples.
I know this is a dream at the moment, up to now I don’t have the network yet but I have some names in my pocket of people to contact ;-)
HIGHER PURPOSE
The higher purpose is connection and healing through connection, beauty and togetherness.
I am convinced that this ‘being in the swarm’ is only possible if you surrender to it. Once you enter this state, once you let go, you transgress a barrier and have a sense of being in the now and a sense of belonging.
This could alter the world we are living in and where our children will live in.
Le tribunal d'amour, Gent SMAK beleeft 2023
In samenwerking met Stan Bundervoet, Wim Verbinnen, Ditmar Goes. Een quadrofone audio installatie gebaseerd op ankerpunten van het leven van Olivia Binana.