Everything in Life is Vibration–Albert Einstein (2021) exemplifies the multi-dimensionality in both concept and materials with which I approach temporality and participation in my performative art practice. A collaborative project between myself and Danish artist, Mette Sanggaard, Everything in Life is Vibration–Albert Einstein has two components. The first is a scored choreography performed for audiences in which we develop a kinetic relationship to the materiality of magnets and magnetic fields. We further develop this component into a an open kinetic language that serves as a basis for a series of participatory workshops for groups of up to eight individuals. This page is devoted to the scored performance as developed and performed for audiences in Berlin this past semester.
I approached Mette in July with the idea to explore magnetic fields and vibrations with the belief that significance and power of these vibrations extends beyond the science, informing not only celestial bodies, but all physical bodies. Can humans change their lived experiences (including physical and mental states) through manipulation of magnetic fields? We took this hypothesis and, with the intent to develop a participatory situation, we developed first a collaborative performance as a way to understand the magnetic fields with our own bodies.
We developed a movement score and an audio score. We designed and sewed costumes. We developed promotional materials. We created a prepared space and performed for audiences in late September.
The performance is a kinetic interpretation of how magnetic fields loop, couple, evolve, quicken and fade. The audience experiences a narrative flow through the exploration by the performers (me and Mette) of our bodies and magnets in a scored use of a prepared space. Wearing clothing embedded with rare-earth Neodym magnets, the performers explore magnetic fields between their bodies as we repel, vibrate, snap together and pull apart. Because this is a scored performance, chance is an inherent element. As performers, we linger with one another, relying not on knowing what comes next, but rather reacting to what happens; feeling and sensing what is happening around us, between us. The temporal rhythm is also changing in this performance, accelerating from slow steps into running and bodily collisions; slowing to a complete stillness. These tempo changes happen not once, but rather melodically through the duration of the piece.
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