Video Installation , 2020

During her time in Asia, the artist had the opportunity to examine the philosophy of Butoh dance and its similarities to contemporary dance. As part of this observation, the artist created a choreography by taking similar points between the traditional Japanese Butoh dance and the minimalist and geometric forms of the Bauhaus. Encouraging the artist to compare this; the idea of the ”empty body” in this dance method. The idea of starting with nothing and transforming into something while starting to dance in Butoh encouraged the artist to represent a transformation in choreography. The artist uses traditional and contemporary dance movements together to question our relationship with the past, future and present. Acay creates a new form by simplifying time and space with the idea that ”the old must disappear for something new to begin”. In this sense, according to the artist, the revolutionary minimalist geometric and linear elements that Oskar Schlemmer’s ballet uses keep our perceptions of the past and future open.

Concept & Director: Gökcen Dilek Acay
Performer: Emiko Agatsuma
Choreografie: Emiko Agatsuma & Gökcen Dilek Acay
Camera: Jamie Osho Mactography & Gökcen Dilek Acay
Camera Assistant: Helen Hu