Output details
34 - Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory
Birmingham City University
Film Installation for stage for Olympics ceremony event
This film was commissioned by The International Olympics Committee as part of the The Royal Opera House production celebrating the London Games. It was a constituent of collaborative work between Deepres, sound composers Robin Rimbaud with Joel Cadbury and choreographer Kate Prince, artists selected by Wayne McGregor, the choreographer-in-residence for the Royal Ballet.
First shown at the Olympic inaugural ceremony for heads of state and opened by the Queen at the Royal Opera House, July 2012, extracts of Deepres’ film were also included in a major public dance performance called Bigdance staged as part of the Olympic celebrations in Trafalgar Square.
This entirely new piece developed further Deepres’ previous film installation themes of working kinetically with space, sound and performance, conveying metaphorical narratives around ideas of nation and identity (see output 1). Deepres incorporated footage selected from the Olympic film archive of the 1908 and 1948 games, together with new material shot around the current Olympic site. The work was the result of extensive visual research and highlighted the three British Olympics, interconnecting significant pieces of archive footage with the present day vision for the games. The piece focused on contemporary interpretations of the Olympic philosophy, such as achievement, multiculturalism, celebration and outreach. These were brought together through implementing a kinetic and symbiotic relationship between the artistic expression of all art forms in the combined piece.
The contemporary nature of the work was exemplified by the conceptual treatment of the film projection. This was sculpturally interpreted through using a black gauze at the front of the stage for the first part of the piece. This worked spatially, as well as filmically, with the Zoonation dance company’s live performance based on narrative hip hop theatre. The sound was a mixture of traditionally structured strings and electronically derived soundscapes.
