Hourglass

Robin Cox | COMPOSER & CREATOR
Lianne Arnold | PROJECTIONS

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An experiment in improv dance, Hourglass aims to provide professional and amateur dancers alike an outlet to experiment for exactly one hour. Since 2011, Hourglass has been performed in a series of venues across the country. Video was used to add an additional sensory stimulation for improv on top of the music, immerse and frame the spacial environment, and provide a visual timecode for the event so that the participating dancers could pace themselves over the hour arc. Also, the video added a dynamic quality to the multiple performance structure by sourcing documentation of previous iterations of the piece as a base to create a visual reaction to what existed before I came along and contribute to the outcome of new iterations by providing a source of visual inspiration for future participants - creating, in total, a kind of exquisite corpse.

I took an analogue approach to creating the content. I projected documentation from previous performances onto various organic, textured surfaces, filmed that projection, and repeated the process on a new surface - creating a copy of a copy of a copy; abstracting the form, but maintaining the the energy of the movement in the original documentation. I then framed that content in a series of “clocks” that were projected in spaces around the venue, incorporating the quality of the space into the video design.