Output details
34 - Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory
University of Reading : A - Art
‘Ballet – Granite’, incorporating two solo exhibitions/installations and film, ‘Ballet- Granite’ 2011, 50 mins, NTSC HD.
The large-scale performance-installation ‘Ballet-Granite’ 2011-13 involved the construction of a spectacular, post-apocalyptic landscape performance set (including video projection) and a choreographed score, staged with two different groups of performers in Canada and in Russia. The script and choreography were developed to explore Romantic representations of the anticipation of apocalyptic events through the re-staging of a series of tableau-vivants from different literary and art historical sources, including Stifter’s romantic novel ‘Granite’ (1853), Watteau’s ‘Voyage to Cythera’ (1718) and Barnet Schroeder's film, ‘The Valley’ (1977). The performance was staged twice. The final formats of each performance developed through a series of improvisation and crash choreography workshops staged within the performance set at each venue, where the performance structure, use of sound, movement, spoken word and video were reconfigured in response to the venue and cast. For instance, at MacKenzie Art Gallery, Canada, 2011, the cast involved 10 performers and musicians, within an installation of artworks curated by Clausen from the Mackenzie collections. The performance involved a large scale LED lighting display to enable dramatic transformations in colour. The performance at Perm Museum of Contemporary Art, Russia, 2012 involved collaboration with a group of 25 local dancers from the Perm National Dance Institute and included complex dance movement and choreographic scores referencing both Siberian folk elements and Isadora Duncan dance sequences. The performance videos and plans were included in the 4th Moscow Biennial as part of the landmark ‘Independent’ exhibition at the Art Arsenal, 2011. Curators Timothy Long, Dorothee Richter and Lars Gertenbach have produced critical evaluations of the work, fin a new book, edited by the Clausen, published OnCurating in 2013, containing detailed images and documentation from the film and performance. The performance was produced in collaboration with Canadian company Curtain Razors and funded by Canada Council and Saskatchewan Arts Board.
