BLOT - Body Line of THought

A social choreography of our microbiome.

DESCRIPTION

BLOT proposes a series of performative situations that explore movement in relation to the bacteria in our body. The show aims to rethink the body as an interconnected system, strong and fragile at the same time. The body is stripped of the social meanings determined by language and redefines itself through a continuous dialogue about coexistence. The two artists work on stage with seemingly invisible connections, but without which the human body could not function.

CONCEPT

Our bodies have a unique microbial footprint, which comes to define us as biological identities, as well as mental and social bodies. Our social choreography is often challenged by a lack of balance between the inner and outer worlds, a balance that we ourselves disturb. Following the events that have defined the recent history of our interaction with the environment and especially with the microorganisms with which we coexist, it is necessary to look at the body as a system that cannot exist outside the multitudes it contains. Contamination has become a term that inspires fear, although it is a natural process by which we change and transform resources. 

BLOT analyzes the way in which human existence is translated by language, through processes of dependence and control, focusing on the fine line between what is useful and what is toxic. There is an order in biological terms copied and reproduced by human intelligence, through social behavioral systems. Human intelligence has limited control over bacteria through technology and science, but it is ultimately and inevitably subdued by the unknown.

THE PROCESS

BLOT is a co-production between Tangaj Collective (Bucharest, RO) and Action at a Distance (Vancouver, CA), based on close collaboration in work ethics, body visions, artistic dialogue, and exchange of resources between the two founding choreographers of organizations. The project benefited from a research residency at Cultivamos Cultura, in Sao Luis, Portugal following the selection of the two choreographers as resident artists in the Biofriction, a European BioArt project, co-financed by the Creative Europe program of the European Union.

The artistic team of the show created and filmed at The National Centre for Dance in Bucharest was completed by the curator Olivia Nițis who offered dramatic support to the two artists – Simona Deaconescu and Vanessa Goodman, opening communication channels at an ideational level and processes of transforming the studied concepts into scenic actions. Monocube, a composer of Ukrainian origin based in Berlin, at his second collaboration with the choreographer Simona Deaconescu, signs the soundtrack of the show. Ciprian Ciuclea, visual artist and researcher, contributes to the design of stage objects, in a minimal, industrial direction, anchored in scientific principles.

THE MAKERS

Concept and choreography Simona Deaconescu, Vanessa Goodman

Performed by Simona Dabija, Mariza Luiza Dimulescu

Artistic consultant Olivia Nițiș

Music Monocube

Object design Ciprian Ciuclea, Paula Viitanen, Juan Carlos Aldazosa Bazua 

Light design Alexandros Raptis, James Proudfoot

Assistant choreographer Georgeta Corca

Production Laura Trocan

Graphic design PRETTY/UGLY DESIGN

PREMIERE

Nov 2020 -> Online Streaming & Parallel Documentary Exhibition @Switch Lab (Bucharest) & Plastic Orchid Factory (Vancouver)

PRODUCERS AND SPONSORS

The project is co-produced by Tangaj Dance Association and Action at a Distance Society, co-financed by The Administration of the National Cultural Fund and Canada Council for the Arts. The partners of the project are The National Center for Dance Bucharest, Left of Main, Plastic Orchid Factory.

BLOT is supported by Cultivamos Cultura, in the frame of Biofriction, an European project co-financed by the Creative Europe program of the European Union.

Media partners: 4 Arte, Modernism, Munteanu, Spotmedia, Ziarul Metropolis, Zile și Nopți.

*The project does not necessarily represent the position of the Administration of the National Cultural Fund. AFCN is not responsible for the content of the project or how the results of the project can be used. These are entirely the responsibility of the beneficiary of the financing.