ROOTING MIND
Project phase: January and February 2021
#TakeCareResidency at studioNAXOS Frankfurt as part of flausen+
funded by Fonds Darstellende Künste
Score: https://vimeo.com/515004838
Video work ROOTS&FIBRES: https://vimeo.com/476861024
What comes to the surface? What remains hidden? The contrasting associative image of swamps is reflected in its fragile waterline. In the research work ROOTING MIND and the resulting video work ROOTS&FIBRES, the waterline serves as a superordinate symbol for exploring psychosomatic states.
The starting point of the research was an atmospheric and haptic exploration of swamp landscapes. The continuation of the exploration of natural materials into movement research led to dance-performative embodiments of roots, earth, fibres and water. At the same time, phenomena associated with swamps, such as repression, memory and flashbacks, were translated into images and movements. The combination or linking of different elements of the research made it possible to immerse oneself in psychosomatic states and challenge the separation of bodies and their surroundings.
Choreographic experiments with scores, in the sense of structured improvisation, dominated the second phase of the residency. Similar to the mystical atmosphere of swamps, many of the scores operated with reduction and allusion. On the other hand, they played with stepping out of this spherical ‘setting’ by interrupting it with irritatingly displaced insertions. Maintaining a professional distance from one's own memories and still delving into the depths of psychosomatic states proved to be the biggest challenge of the artistic research. At the same time, its greatest potential lies at this boundary.
When natural materials are taken out of their habitat, they change. Processes of drying out, crumbling and evaporation demonstrate their fragility, which can create a different form of attention and awareness for nature in our surroundings. For this reason, ROOTING MIND also calls for a different perspective and asks: How do we establish a relationship with nature without appropriating it?