Exhibition "The Essence of the body" at TanZeiT-ZeiTanZ festival, Chur, Switzerland

May 13, 2016
Author Echo Gone Wrong

20160504_173117The exhibition “The Essence of the body” presents art works, which reflect each and independently for themselves on the human body, however, thanks to the curatorial selection and confrontation the works start a dialogues. This year`s festival exhibition formulates questions about the body of dancers, whose perception by the viewer is often limited on those body parts which are clearly involved in the dance like arms and legs, the body line and rotation, which are involved in dance moves and thereby formulate the language of dance.

At a second glance, the dancing body reveals body parts that are equal to the extremities in terms of their importance, or even essence; like the ear, which not only allows the dancer to follow music or sounds, to perceive the breathing rhythm of the partner or even to locate other dancers acoustically in the space. Far more important appears the equilibrium organ hidden and protected in the auditory organ. Jurgis Paškevičius sets sensitivity, transparency as well as versatility of the ear in the focus of his work “Silent Dancer”.

Dancers are athletes and as such their knowledge of nutrition is of particular interest. In our times of intense discussion about nutrients as well as pollutants in food, one scandal seems to follow new discoveries. Eric Calderon, actually a packaging designer, created with “Final storage/Slutforvaring” a unique art work, based on scientific research which proves the human body to be a waste disposal site of hazardous microparticles, which are used in food packaging materials. Calderon does not only reflect on the difficulty of a healthy diet in a world of water- and grease repellents used in various forms and dedicated to our fascination for easy-care-stain-resistant-wash-and-wear materials (for example, functional clothing), but asks for responsibility of producer and consumers as well. In this light, the labeling of food ingredients and allergens is as superficial one in a world that pays no attention to the ingredients of the package itself.

Since its very first year, the festival TanZeiT-ZeiTanZ focuses on a point-blank experience of audience and dancers. Dance as an energy-consuming, physical activity manifests itself visually and acoustically by perspiration as well as increased respiratory rate, while the heat radiation of the body on the respective environment remains invisible. Stefano Cagol recorded in its award-winning work TBOE (The Body of Energy / The body of energy) human bodies with an infrared camera in different temperature fields. With Flavia Devonas he recorded in Northern Norway at outside temperatures of     -32 degrees dance movements located around a column of concrete, where the dancer impressively left “heat marks” on the surface of the column which remains us the invisibility of heat transfer between dancers. Installed as a triptych and at ground level the work also reflects on aspects of abidance and movement, fugitiveness and stability.

Audiences perceive the dancing body as a Gesamtkunstwerk. Fredrik Ödman who describes himself as a painter through the photographic lens, decomposed in his series “Pinocchio Ballet” in a photo-realistic way the grace of dance while pointing out the musculoskeletal system. Connected only by threads and self-directed by the dancer her/his body parts describe movements in a highly aesthetic and visually impressive manner. Associations with Paralympic disciplines are welcome and ask for the position of the body in society. These reflections on the perfection and the degree of inadequacy of the human body is provided by elegance as interaction of the body in a discrepancy that challenge and unsettle the viewer.

“The Essence of the body”
Curator: Andreas Hoffmann
5 -13 May, 2016
Stadtgalerie Chur
TanZeiT-ZeiTanZ festival
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Photography: Andreas Hoffmann