INSIGHTSDIGITAL AT THE EDINBURGH FESTIVAL FRINGE 2023
AUGUST 4TH – AUGUST 28TH
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Check out the full review here
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InsightsDigital returns this August as part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe's on-demand programme.
InsightsDigital presents a collection of 7 short performances by international emerging artists from different subgenres of the performing arts. This InsightsDigital platform includes performances of spoken word, music, performance art, physical theatre, dance, multimedia arts, and performance with augmented reality, created by the following emerging artists: Swedish multi-creative artist Kristina Hanses aka KEJH, Scottish choreographer and performer Malcolm Sutherland, U.K. based musician and digital producer Mimi Harmer, U.K. based performance artist Clodagh Delahunty-Forrest, Swedish creative artist Anna Hulth, Greek contemporary dance artist Angeliki Nikolopoulou, and Japanese choreographer and performer Tomo Sone.
We are very excited to share with you, the work of these very creative, emerging artists.
"I just had a moment where I was like whoa, I'm watching contemporary dance, on my phone, in Starbucks. This is exactly what excites me about digital arts" (InsightsDigital audience member)
INSIGHTSDIGITAL - ONLINE PROGRAMME
RUNNING TIME 51 MINUTES
Kristina Hanses aka KEJH - New Self
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Created and performed by: Kristina Hanses
Original music by: Kristina Hanses Produced by: Ludvig Larsson Video by: Kristina Hanses and Henrik Kumlin Kristina Hanses (KEJH) is a singer, songwriter, choreographer, and dancer from Sweden. Her latest work is an hour-long dance/concert performance called ‘New Self’ – a dancing music album. As part of InsightsDigital, Kristina shares a video performance excerpt of ‘New Self’ where her song, also titled ‘New Self’ is performed within a collaboration of Kristina's choreography. 'New Self' is about the sadness of losing someone you love and the battle to keep your sanity. Kristina wrote ‘New Self’ when she was afraid to lose her mother and she was afraid of who she would become without her. |
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Malcolm Sutherland - In Absentia
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Performer/Voice: Malcolm Sutherland
Film: Lewis Landini Sound design: Duncan Sutherland Mentoring: Bethany Kingsley-Garner Funded/supported by: Scene Stirling, Théâtre d'Esch What is the performer without their stage? What is the audience without their performer? 'In Absentia' is the result of a collaborative multi-media investigation into the sense of absence created in a theatre environment without the performers present and the sense of absence created within the performer without their recognised stage setting to perform in. As we adapt to the realities of a Covid affected world, this project explores the nature of viewing digitalised dance work and how it compares to the reality of witnessing it in a live theatre setting. How and in what way can and does dance exist in the digital medium? This was the primary starting point for the project as the dance world adapts to the realities of a Covid affected world. Currently, at the time of creating, dance exists almost exclusively through digital means, this signifies a huge shift in both the experience of the performer and the viewer. Many dance artists have been thrust into this new environment of creativity without choice, as it’s currently almost the only way of continuing our practice, but have we had enough time to actually consider the wholly different dynamic or experience of watching something online instead of in the theatre? As technology develops and we attempt to make these digital projects feel more authentic, can we ever create an experience that fully replicates that of a theatre for the viewer? |
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With 'In Absentia', we wanted to consider the value or nature of presenting dance work online, and to attempt to bridge this gap between what is ‘lost’ for both the viewer and performer in comparison to seeing a live version of a performance in a theatre. Part of the inspiration comes from the frustrations of having to present other creative work online through zoom, which although a practical tool is not meant for artistic purposes. When work is shown over zoom it can drastically diminish the quality as well as sometimes even freeze or lag etc.
We recorded the footage with an old mobile phone camera to give the experience a unique feel, the shots are often close to capture the intimacy of the performer, but one still feels removed due to the nature of recording equipment. Thus, we are left with an intriguing ambiguity between intimacy and distance, we want to be there, present with the performer but there is always the stumbling block of the screen in between the 2D and 3D worlds. Similarly, the sound score is created almost entirely from live sounds recorded during the filming process in order to form a sensory experience for the viewer that brings them to a place which is in some way reminiscent of a theatre environment without being in the theatre themselves.
This project was envisaged not just as a finished product, but as a way of investigating or starting conversations about the existence of dance in the online realm and to explore the different possibilities of the continued existence of this new creative tool. We want to hear your feedback about this subject, so we would really love to hear from you!
We recorded the footage with an old mobile phone camera to give the experience a unique feel, the shots are often close to capture the intimacy of the performer, but one still feels removed due to the nature of recording equipment. Thus, we are left with an intriguing ambiguity between intimacy and distance, we want to be there, present with the performer but there is always the stumbling block of the screen in between the 2D and 3D worlds. Similarly, the sound score is created almost entirely from live sounds recorded during the filming process in order to form a sensory experience for the viewer that brings them to a place which is in some way reminiscent of a theatre environment without being in the theatre themselves.
This project was envisaged not just as a finished product, but as a way of investigating or starting conversations about the existence of dance in the online realm and to explore the different possibilities of the continued existence of this new creative tool. We want to hear your feedback about this subject, so we would really love to hear from you!
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Malcolm Sutherland
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Mimi Harmer - VV (Viva)
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Written by: Mimi Harmer
Cello performed by: Mimi Harmer Spoken word by: Maria-Teresa Carubia-Harmer Recorded, mixed and mastered by: Matt Fogg Video collated and edited by: Matt Fogg and Mimi Harmer VV is all about ancestral factions in the village of Calamonaci (Sicily). Dictated by bloodline, the village is divided between those who support San Michele and San Giovanni Battista (Saint Michael the Archangel and Saint John the Baptist). As part of an annual festival for San Vincenzo, the village is decorated with the colours of the Saints, and they are paraded through the streets for “la rigattiata”. The Calamonacesi are proud of their respective saint, and graffiti can be seen around the village using interlocking ‘Vs’, to represent “Viva (long live)”. |
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VV explores the invocations of these two saints through interplay between multiple moving parts - cello, foley, spoken word, and video. The reason for the divide is lost to history. VV San Giovanni, or VV San Michele - you decide.
The text is recited in Sicilian by Maria-Teresa Carubia-Harmer:
Preghiera a San Giovanni
San Giuvanni decullatu,
Tri brizzi, tri 'mpisi e tri 'nnigati,
Tutti novi v'ati a uniri,
E tantu lu priggati e lu strinciti
Ch'a mia di sti peni mi livati.
Porta battiri,
Campana sunari,
Friscu friscari,
Cani baiari.
Tantu mi partu di vui Signuri,
Quandu sentu battituri.
Preghiera a San Michele Archeangelo
Padri nostru chi stati 'n celu;
siti un Ancilu, San Michele,
siti un Ancilu maggiuri
ca parrati cu lu Signuri.
D'ogni mali chi nni veni,
liberàtimi, San Michele.
Preghiera a San Giovanni
San Giuvanni decullatu,
Tri brizzi, tri 'mpisi e tri 'nnigati,
Tutti novi v'ati a uniri,
E tantu lu priggati e lu strinciti
Ch'a mia di sti peni mi livati.
Porta battiri,
Campana sunari,
Friscu friscari,
Cani baiari.
Tantu mi partu di vui Signuri,
Quandu sentu battituri.
Preghiera a San Michele Archeangelo
Padri nostru chi stati 'n celu;
siti un Ancilu, San Michele,
siti un Ancilu maggiuri
ca parrati cu lu Signuri.
D'ogni mali chi nni veni,
liberàtimi, San Michele.
Clodagh Delahunty-Forrest - Raising my body
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Written and Performed by: Clodagh Delahunty-Forrest
Videographer: Daniel Haskell Tech set up: Mark Bentele and Beth Peat Special thanks to Jen Southern and Nathan Jones for supporting my performative practice 'Raising my body' (2023) is a feminist art body performance written and performed by Lancaster University graduate Clodagh Delahunty-Forrest. Clodagh’s performance practice has developed across her Fine Art and Creative Writing degree with the support of her new media tutors Jen Southern and Nathan Jones. 'Raising my body' is Clodagh’s latest performance and investigates the painful and often transformational cycles of womanhood.
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Performed live at the Lancaster Institute of Contemporary Art’s 2023 Degree show, this performance is a ritualistic response to the artist’s personal relationship with her body. Clodagh's performances use projection to merge the physical and digital body together, testing her form and memory; in 'Raising my body', Clodagh communicates with her younger and older self through the use of Snapchat AI filters. Enthusiastic to continue the legacy of 20th century body performers such as Carolee Schneemann, ‘Raising my body’ focuses on the female body, its pain, and what connects the different versions of womanhood together.
Anna Hulth - In Layers of Grief
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Film by: Anna Hulth
Dancer: Tanja Andersson Music: Jonas Paulsson Dressed in black silk. The fabric of the skirt overflows, creating waves in the black. The face is turned away, hidden in a hand. But beneath all the layers of fabric that protects, there is that endless sorrow like the storm on the open sea. In my inquiry for the film, I have had the Victorian era (1820 - 1914) as a base. In relation to grief, I have looked at the expectations for women in particular. How they were required not to speak but instead wear their loss in a legible manner, essentially requiring her to mourn publicly yet silently. In my work 'In Layers of Grief', I have tried to make the grief visible. The film portrays the innermost grief, the one that is not visible to the outside world but that is weighing on the mourner. The draped 'textile body' acts as the exterior, what was expected to be shown by the Victorian woman's grief. The textile body must be controlled, and the emotions are not allowed to seep out. In my practice, there is a recurring desire to portray what is not seen but felt, what scares me, a kind of emotional narrative. Therefore, the material has been an important component in my research. I have examined the comforting and protective properties of textiles, trying to understand my own relationship to grief and the Victorian view and rituals surrounding death and spirituality. |
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Angeliki Nikolopoulou - Tomorrow I will get up again
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Choreography/Performance: Angeliki Nikolopoulou
Music: 'Petit Fleur' and 'Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives To Me' by Sidney Bechet 'Tomorrow I will get up again' is a short solo performance that celebrates life in its real and honest range. Inspired by my grandfather’s remarkable state of mind during his 90 years living in this world, this piece is a suggestion to see life differently; it is a proposal to cherish what we still have, enjoy the little things in life, be silly and happy with ourselves. Starting with a stereotypical idea of an old figure that can’t escape the consequences of getting old and constantly fighting against time, the choreography evolves to twist this plot; When you believe you had it all and there is not anything else, you still have yourself. You still have your body no matter how much or little it can move; you have your mind to convince yourself that you don’t have to worry so much about everything; and your heart to enjoy the simplest stuff through this complicated thing we call life. Until we will no longer exist in this world, we are all still here. 'Tomorrow I will get up again' premiered in February 2023 for the Entering the Void project at Kvarterhuset, Copenhagen, DK |
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Angeliki Nikolopoulou
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Tomo Sone - Cassandra's field of flowers
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Direction, Choreography, Performance and Sound Design: Tomo Sone
AR art and Video Editing: Akane Costume: Shahar Avnet Mask: Damselfrau Director of Photography and lighting design: Sou Matsuzawa Lighting design: Haruki Kusuda Photography: Ryuhei Hata Production: Tomo Sone Dance Projects Through the pandemic, we remembered how vital the connection between people is. Performing arts expanded its value and possibilities beyond the theatre. It is important that the performers on stage will not only become central figures but also feel the world, move forward, and bring about change with the audience. This durational installation-performance attempts to fuse contemporary dance with digital technology, AR, in a traditional Japanese Noh theatre, where the audience spins their own story by using AR. It is a work that makes us think about the reality, the unreality, the unknown, and the invisible world that spread outside the theatre, and considers the situation in which human beings are placed. |
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