On Danfe

I had the chance to see 'On Danfe' last week at the International Dance Festival Ireland. 'On Danfe' is a dance performance from duo José Montalvo and Dominique Hervieu.It is an enchantment to see: seventeen beautiful and talented dancers, extravagant baroque music of Jean-Philippe Rameau, magical video projection. It is the beautiful expression of mixing culture: all styles of dance from break-dance, to ballet; from African to belly-dancing; from contemporary to jazz
'On Danfe', a fantastical exploration of the libertine philosophies of the eighteenth century, is a piece of jubilant excess. Expertly juxtaposing magical video imagery with playful, unfettered dancing, it brilliantly transports the audience to a dream-like surreal world. A rich and beautiful mosaic of dance, image and music that gallops onto the stage at a breathless pace and stays sparkling in the imagination a long time after. If you've ever wondered where the feel-good factor in dance resides, look no further.

NOWHERE

NOWHERE is a landscape in the condition of development. the users of the german search-engine METAGER erode rivers, canyons and valleys by their search-movements. search-requests, existing only for a fraction of a second on the internet, get inscribed in a block of pu-foarm (75cm x 75cm x 10cm) by a 3d milling-machine. the continuous stream of queries defines the rhythm of the machine.

NOWHERE works like a photo-optical long-time exposition. the shutter opens for a period of up to three weeks and updates the developing relief constantly. search-requests get interpreted as eroding forces on the surface of the landscape. simultaneously every entered search request is used as an energy impulse to move the milling-head on step forward. activity removes material, inactivity keeps it. in times with less activity (e.g. in the night hours) the machine works slow and at peak times (e.g. midday) the machine works very fast and hectically. the developing space/time sculpture embodies an not existing place, which is made visible by the users of the search-engine.

NOWHERE #1 the first developed landscape was produced during 29.12.05 and 18.01.06 (with over 1million search requests).

Wearable Instruments

Wearable Instruments, by Marisa Jahn & Steve Shada, is a series out wearable musical instruments that allegorize human relationships. This is a direction I'd like to investigate in my own work, it gives definitely other opportunities for people to create contact and explore other ways off communicating.

Exhausted: Two vests sewn with an accordion-like instrument between; individuals wear them facing each other; as the two participants embrace and pull away their movements generate sound. The bellows of the 'accordion', when extended to their maximal capacity, reveal the word 'exhaust.' In other words, the air fills the bellows when the individuals, frustrated ('exhausted') by each other, pull apart. This air is expelled/exhausted as the individuals embrace, paradoxically suggesting that through embrasure the frustration is dispelled or exhausted.

Hug n' Harp : A set of vests equipped with a stringed instrument component located on each vest's backside. The instruments are played when the participants embrace; the participants can only play their partner's instruments, not their own. Additionally, with the instrument's orifice positioned in a location accessible to others, the individual wearing the vest finds him/herself in a vulnerable position wherein anyone can access the vest and play his or her strings...

Switch

Alison Lewis has launched - as we would say here in Ireland - "a lovely" website... No seriously it is brilliant.
SWITCH is an online Do It Yourself show where she and her friends focus on teaching young women about electronics through fashion and design. I'm usually not very enthusiastic about "girls only" project. But it is true, there's a real work of education to do in that direction... Technology for boys and Hairbrush for girls? I don't think so!
Check out the first episode: Alison and Diana Eng create a talking frame (using "ingredients such as nail polish and a dental floss container and teaching girls to drill, extend and strip wires.)