These are notes about my intention for work at Saari Residence, March and April 2015 in Finland. This was the beginning of Field of Disappearance.
I will be working on the basis and direction for a new dance project: Field Of Disappearance (work title). I wish to investigate different aspects of disappearance and different ways to look at the subject, not necessarily to make the piece yet, but to lay solid ground for it.
There are many ways I could approach this subject. For many years I have been intrigued and moved by people gone missing, disappearing. What goes on inside of people if they know that nobody knows where they are? They disappeared to someone and some place but they still are somewhere. Also disappearance in relation to presence, absence and transparency and what that may mean to the dancing body. And the possibility of disappearing through layers, different depths of disappearing perhaps. I am inspired in this by The Rothko Chapel in Houston.
I have worked in the areas of presence, stillness and resonance for many years. Aspects that I relate to the imagination of disappearing. I approach stillness as a meeting space, from which anything can arise with new clarity. A magical space somehow, where perception is heightened. I have found moments of disappearance in earlier pieces, e.g. one place in the space where the performer seemed invisible; a bell that made no sound; a musician taking on the role of the ‘white hadji’, a spirit in Indonesia only seen by some.
Now I wish to tune my attention directly to what seems to me the essence, perhaps of all: the act, experience or perception of disappearing on another level: the act of ‘getting out of the way.’ A lifetime practise. And yet, how close could I get now in performance, in communication and relation with an audience when dealing with the subject itself other than letting it be an underlying vision? What form would it take? Part of my daily practice will be an individual training deriving from these particular interests. How can you practice to ‘get out of the way’ when you bring your attention to it? Deepening my ongoing practice and interest from a new place in my dancing. Another part is making photos with these interests in mind, to support the composing and imagination (framing, appearing, disappearing, (in)visibility, inclusion, exclusion).
The residency has been deeply inspiring and beautiful. In this place in nature in Finland, the support for the arts and artists is deeply felt in many layers. Field of Disappearance found strong ground here and has been continuing to develop ever since.
During this residency, 10 individual artists were working. Five of us collaborated at the end and made a short dance film in a nearby magical oak forest. You can find a page with some images and the silent cut of the film Kahina | Rustle.
