Presenting: A series of works by choreographer and performance artist Xiao Ke. For the month of October Arthub screened CACHE, ELSEWHERE and Dance Between the Lines.
About the Works
Dance Between the Lines
This edition of the conceptual artwork Dance Between the Lines was filmed in April 2015, at a residency the artist attended in Marseille, France at Studio Scene44 with N+N Corsino. The performance was the second phase of a Thousand Silk Threads, which was originally shown in Suzhou, China.
ELSEWHERE, a dance film made by the artist and Zi Han, who did the photography, music and editing.
Life elsewhere, is like walking along the edge of your body. Keep dancing so that we do not fall down.
– Text by Xiao Ke
CACHE, a site-specific dance theatre piece performed in October, 2014 at the Shanghai Power Station of Art.
The body walks in the grey area between unordered consciousness and linear time as the temporary host of the spirit. The body disappears when we are talking and thinking about ‘time’, awaken in the dream, sleep in the real.
The seven dancers try to amplify the hidden desire and sadness in their body’s memory. Where the hidden emotion will lead the bodies to go escape from their familiar track?
This theatre work is a sudden daydream comes on the noon combine physical performance with sound and video installation.
– Text by Xiao Ke
Concept by Xiao Ke and Zi Han
Choreography by Xiao Ke
Sound and video installation by Zi Han
Performers: Li Yong, Li Zhen, Tang Tang, Wu Fei, Wang Kaili, Yang Ning, Zhao Yuanhang
Executive director: Fengzi
To read more about the artist and her work see here.
For the occasion of Xiao Ke’s screenings, Arthub’s Ryan Nuckolls has conducted an exclusive interview with the artist below.
CACHE
Ryan Nuckolls (RN): In your site-specific performance
CACHE at the Power Station of Art in Shanghai last year, you’ve stated that the dancers are trying to “amplify the hidden desire and sadness in their [bodies’] memory,” in an effort to escape the familiarity of their lives. In this work, are you asserting that our bodies are merely hosts that allow our spirit to exist in the real world? But these vessels disappear in the dream world, a world that is allowed to come alive in your choreography?
Xiao Ke (XK): This is an interesting interpretation. Actually, “cache” is a time-related concept. It is like the USB drives we use so often in daily life, which seem to temporarily store a period of time that can be easily removed later. The body is a space that exists within another physical space, and then there is more space outside this space. If our bodies are spaces for cache, then how is the debris of memory in our brains transmitted to external spaces through the hosts that are our bodies? And how do these external spaces store or delete such information? Bodily expressions are eventually recorded by the brains of the audience, becoming the memory of a certain period of time within their bodies, and this cache relationship of constant interchange is what I wanted to touch on in this work. Memory spurs human emotion, and emotions ultimately become or characterize specific interpersonal relationships within the physical space that surrounds our bodies. These relationships are extremely ephemeral and fragile, and perhaps it is through them that humans store each other in cache.
RN: Does the use of a mirror in the production of
CACHE illustrate the two worlds put in contrast by the dancers by literally placing them side-by-side?
XK: In that case, is it you or me who is in the dream world at this moment? Haha. The mirror is just a mirror, we are just us, and dreams remain dreams. People’s subjective modes of thinking cause the meanings of objects to take on a kind of being, while the objects themselves are essentially mere objects. I used a mirror because I have never really had much interest in mirrors, and therefore I wanted to try placing a mirror in an unusual place, that is, on the floor, in this work, which alters the way we view the mirror. The dancers do not use the mirror as what it is, but as a dance floor; meanwhile, the audience is familiar with the mirror, which makes the mirror what it is in their eyes, or what they associate it with. The bodily theatre must provide the audience with the space to keep making new associations, which is what I am incapable of controlling, yet what truly excites me in my creative process.
RN: There seems to be a focus on linear time vs. the individual’s detached consciousness in many of your works. In
CACHE you have two parallel worlds that have been created—the physical realm of consciousness and the dream world. It becomes hard to tell whether one world is more or less real than the other. Would it be accurate to say that these parallel dimensions and the dancer’s ability to tread the line between what is real and what is remembered is also represented in your solo performance
Silent Acappella in Switzerland?
XK: The language of the body is abstract, while its performances are responses that spring from ordinary daily lives; therefore, the charm of bodily creation involves wandering between reality and illusion. It is no good to be too realistic, because reality tends to make us lose interest; it is no good to have too much fantasy, because illusions are mere hallucinations. On this note, when I am producing artworks, I like mixing the two up, and perhaps this state of chaos helps me see reality more clearly, and at the same time enter illusion more completely.
Silent Acappella represents me in 2010, a year in which I was in a state similar to that of someone who is making a great effort to sing acappella, but nevertheless remains silent; this state is highly realistic yet extremely unreal at the same time.
ELSEWHERE
RN: Part of your dance film
ELSEWHERE was shot in the Yun’nan area. Do you believe that your personal history with the province altered the creation of the piece?
XK: I shot
ELSEWHERE with Zi Han at various scenic locations in Yun’nan and Anhui. I was born In Kunming, Yun’nan, and left when I was eighteen, and Yun’nan will always remain pleasant in my memory. I believe it must have a certain influence on me, but currently, I am not entirely sure what form this influence could be said to take in my works. Although I was born in Yun’nan, my family’s habits and customs were mainly Northern, since they were in the army, and I’ve always yearned for the family lives of Yun’nan natives, who are nonchalant yet pungent, know how to live comfortably, and are content with themselves. I have never experienced life in such a state; my mother language Is Mandarin, not Yun’nan dialect, while my classmates always spoke Kunming dialect to each other; they would always switch to Mandarin when they turned to talk to me. Even though I did not leave Kunming until I was eighteen, I feel like I was never really socially Integrated there, and Yun’nan never really belonged to me either. Perhaps this is the reason why I dream of my Yun’nan.
RN: For
ELSEWHERE you were both the choreographer and performer; your partner Zi Han did the photography, music and editing. In 2011, you co-founded Cannot Help Art Collective with Zhou Zihan and Zhang Yuan—with the intention of exploring social issues through art. You and Zihan have collaborated on many projects over the years, do the differences in your practices strengthen the works you complete together? Could you describe the dynamic of the collaborations you perform and produce alongside one another?
XK: Of course. Zi Han and I began our collaboration in 2010, after which I began working with him ever more intimately; through our collaboration, we extend the sort of bodily performative art which characterizes theatre to other possible mediums. We do not rely on live theatrical performances as the only way to present our works; more often, we enter social spaces to facilitate more unrestricted forms of creation and performance, so that the works are no longer only “live.” We employ different methods to demonstrate the same concept, such as photography, video, installation, and text. I find this to be the truly interesting thing about working with theatre. What is a “theatre”? Is it merely a space, like a black box? Who is the audience? Is it mandatory for them to purchase tickets and come to a space at a specific time, to sit and watch the performance? Here lie too many possibilities. Our real focus is on the interactive nature, communicability, and reflexivity that are associated with theatrical productions. In a strict sense, we can no longer be regarded as artists of conventional theatre. As for the question of what we are doing, I have yet to find a satisfactory definition in Chinese; meanwhile, we are actually not interested in defining our works, but concerned rather with those productive possibilities born out of this in-between state. In English, “performing art” and “performance art” have distinct meanings, and are essentially different. What we create is the latter.
Dance Between the Lines
RN: In April of this year, you, sound and performance artist Zi Han and costume designer Zhou Jie received the chance to complete a residency in Marseille, France at
Studio Scene44 with N+N Corsino. The performance was the second phase of a
Thousand Silk Threads, which stemmed from a previous project in China. Because this work was originally shown in Suzhou, China do you think this changes the viewing of the work in France? Does the aesthetics of the production, originally inspired by iconic Chinese textiles and patterns, have the same meaning outside of China?
XK: Our residency in Marseille was fascinating. We invited three dancers and Milan-based video production team Martino of
Recipient Collective to collaborate with us there. We had become acquainted through an art project in Suzhou a year ago, which is why we decided to continue our collaboration. The curator, Davide Quadrio, showed us a great deal of support, which facilitated the second round of collaboration. In Marseille, we started from the most basic concept (the aesthetic of line), in order to reveal possibilities for communication between Interactive visual art and bodily art. These simple concepts are fair and sweet, allowing us to make our attempt at conveying the aesthetic of line in a relatively genuine and focused manner in a short period of 10 days. In the end, every team member was very happy, and it was clear to all of us that this was just the beginning of our collaboration; we will find opportunities to continue working together this year.
RN: Following the establishment of the Zhe She Physical Co-operation in 2007, with the help of poet and musician Leiyu, you hoped to utilize traditional Chinese philosophies to understand and interpret modern society, and to help develop the younger generation’s contemporary work. Do you believe that working with experimental artists like Recipient Collective and n+n Corsino, thereby merging dance, digital art, electronic and traditional Chinese music, allows you to further your goals of doing so?
XK: Zhe She is a conceptual duo that my friend Lei Yu and I came up with in 2007, though it has not been further developed since then. My collaboration with Recipient Collective and n+n Corsino went very smoothly. We did not painstakingly look for elements of traditional Chinese culture; instead, we let nature take its course during our collaboration, evolving based on mutual respect for each other’s cultural backgrounds and aesthetic preferences. How does one create without any inspiration of one’s own? It is not necessary to chew on the question of whether the works are or should be influenced by traditional Chinese elements, because the answer surfaces of its own accord. Our team does not have a particularly precise goal either; it is grounded by every collaborator within the team, who, due to shared interests, willingly undergo trials together, and anyone who is not interested will voluntarily leave, wouldn’t you think?
RN: Dance Between the Lines has been described as a conceptual artwork that has the capability of extending beyond the theater. Do you believe in this way it is similar to your series
Darling Hurt, in which you and Zi Han were able to explore extreme expressions of the body in urban public environments?
XK: These two works go in utterly different directions, and therefore are not related. One explores the return to the pure body, interaction and dialogue with the lines that exist in our vision; meanwhile, the series
Darling Hurt belongs to the category of social theatre, which is intertwined with scenes of real life. The two cannot be discussed within the same context.
RN: This idea of inserting the body into non-traditional theatrical environments is reminiscent of the work of Fearghus Ó Conchúir, who you had an opportunity to collaborate with on performances in Beijing, Edinburgh and the World Expo in Shanghai from 2007-1010. In the past, choreographer Fearghus has explored the body’s reaction to changes in urban architecture in places undergoing regeneration such as Shanghai. Do you feel that your work has similar elements of urban awareness and influence?
XK: The collaboration between Fearghus and I has been a creative process involving two independent choreographers working together. In the very beginning, he took the initiative to approach me, explaining his interest in collaboration. Little did I know that we would later become close friends! The work born from our collaboration is called
Dialogue, and has been performed at various venues and art festivals. From my perspective, this collaboration bears no connection to urban change, but rather to our mutual understanding and misunderstanding of each other. I learned a great deal from him, who is not so much an outstanding dancer, as an exceptional artist. He is modest, eager to learn about plenty of things, while always being proactive and maintaining a positive outlook. He visited me once in Berlin after our last performance together. I don’t know why, but I cried at the moment when we parted, an indescribable separation; I believe he also cried after walking into the subway. This is friendship: what a beautiful collaboration it is, when two persons join each other on the same path in the name of artistic creation, and are eventually tied to each other through friendship. I care deeply for friendship, so no matter what each of us is doing separately, if Fearghus is interested in another collaboration, I will say yes without a moment of hesitation, for the sole purpose of creating art with my friend. It is a pity that there is no way for me to apply for funding to invite him to China, while the economic conditions of England and Ireland are not that great either; their funding for art has been severely curtailed, so it is no easy task for him to apply for enough support to finance a second trip to China for the purpose of artistic production. But that’s okay, since there will always be the chance that we will meet again, somewhere else in the world.
RN: What are some of your upcoming projects? Will you be launching the collaborative theater work
Soft Machine in Beijing later this year?
XK: A lot of projects are in store, haha! New theatre works are in progress, and I will launch the Chinese version of
Miniascape, followed by a comprehensive project that combines art exhibition with theatre performance, which will be launched next year. Soft Machine is a collaborative theater project by us and Singaporean artist Choy Ka Fai. We cancelled our plans to perform in Beijing, but will give our first performance in Singapore in October, and then in Vienna.
RN: Can you give us a sneak peak about what direction the content of some of your new pieces will be headed in?
XK: I will let nature take its course, it is crucial to me that the works are fun. In any case, I won’t be producing any theatre works in the conventional sense, haha!
Translation by Alvin Li
N+N Corsino
Nicole Corsino & Norbert Corsino are choreographers and researchers. Interested in the kinetics of bodies and landscapes, Nicole & Norbert Corsino explore areas where dance can appear suddenly and be written to show how the movement of bodies modifies them. They change dance performance spaces to show their choreographic fictions in the form of films and installations, particularly with the series of seven fictions on seaports, called
Circumnavigation.
The 19th october 2013, n + n Corsino have opened scene 44, a European scene for choreographic creation and digital innovation, situated at Pôle Media – Belle de Mai, Marseille.
Fore more information see
here.
Recipient Collective
A Milan based collective of freelance artists and professionals with extensive expertise in multimedia communication, technology research and audio/video productions.
For more information see
here.
