anOther
The 24 television screens collected by the artist form the background of anOther, part installation, part performance and concert. Bodies, images and sound create living sculptures that generate both dialogue and tension. On stage with avant-garde duo group A and multimedia artist Sonya Stefan, Dana Gingras explores the body in flux, far removed from the body image promoted by advertising and fashion. The body is explored as a territory, at times obsessed and fragmented, to the point where it is finally set free, releasing its vital, exciting and liberating essence.
In a darkened room whose floor, walls, and ceiling are covered with a reflective, glossy black material (the sleek visual design of Mikko Hynninen), the audience gazes at a wall of television screens - flickering images filled with uninhabited urban underground spaces. A constant anonymous rumble of sound fills the space. It's unsettlingly eerie, and so are the indeterminate, grainy images on view. After much atmospheric visual distortion, we finally catch a glimpse of a woman's eyes, caught between the bubbling of electronic splintering. Out of the blurry reverie, there is something identifiable.
There is sound and fury in the music, an unsettling blend of sound punctuated by intermittent thunderclaps and distortions generated by group A. In this unstable universe, the musicians push the level of sonic loudness that we can tolerate, although it is not always violent or harsh. In one intriguing section, the throbbing music beat increases but is interrupted by sounds of someone, but more realistically something, chewing.
anOther has a dystopian beat at its heart and holds up a mirror to look at the fragile world we currently live in. Visually, the barrage of strobe-like intensity and excess is infused with anxious undertones. The piece's media landscape reflects our steady diet of technological overload and dependence, and it is fascinating to ponder.
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Company: Animals of Distinction
Concept + direction: Dana Gingras
Created in collaboration with group A and Sonya Stefan
Performers: Dana Gingras, Sonya Stefan, Sayaka Botanic, Tommi Tokyo (Group A)
Music: group A
Video: Sonya Stefan
Set design: Dana Gingras, Mikko Hynninen, Sonya Stefan
Dramatology: Kathy Casey
Artistic advisor: Marie Brassard
Rehearsal director: Karine Denault
Lighting: Mikko Hynninen
Sound: Sebastien Fournier
Costumes: Masks – TICA
Premiere: Agora de la danse, Montreal, CAN, 2018