The Approach and the Square [2021]
In a fifth iteration of ongoing research into certain overlaps of cartography and choreography, The Approach and the Square continues an examination of the body’s position in space and the performative creation of place. This work takes an active look at the mapmaker’s grid and its implicit bias. Constructing a narrative of place, this piece begins to question how movement and positioning in space can result in meaning and story.
It is a common experience that an object appears to change its position— as viewed against a remote background— when the observer changes [their] own position, or when viewed simultaneously by two observers at different places.
Eli Maor, Trigonometric Delights
The Approach and the Square, a site-sensitive work, premiered as a work-in-process in the foyer of the Brandenburgisches Landesmuseum für moderne Kunst (BLMK) at the Dieselkraftwerk (DKW) of Cottbus, Germany on 11. June 2021. Audience could view the performance from either the ground floor or from first floor balconies overlooking the space.
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A gallery of still images from the performance can be found here.
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Over the span of three days, a text was generated for the sound score by executing an algorithmic walk through Cottbus. A transcript of the text, excerpted from a larger original, can be found here.
Concept + Performance: Jason Corff
-in collaboration with-
Music: Liam Byrne
Documentation: Liam Byrne
The Approach and the Square grew from research supported by Dance in Residence (DiR) Brandenburg, a cooperation project of fabrik-moves Potsdam and TanzWERKSTATT Cottbus. The program is created in cooperation with Pro Potsdam, Bürgerhaus am Schlaatz, fabrik Potsdam and the Brandenburg State Museum of Modern Art | Dieselkraftwerk Cottbus and is supported by DIEHL+RITTER/TANZPAKT RECONNECT, funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media as part of the NEUSTART KULTUR initiative, the State of Brandenburg, the City of Potsdam and the City of Cottbus.
Images: Christiane Schleifenbaum