site specific exploration, Koufonissi (GR), 2022
What if practising is already the achievement? Practice is a steady process, a sequence of actions carried out with precision and devotion, a train of thought, a structure. It is tentative and searching, it contains a wealth of possibilities and variations. It is always an approximation, always orbiting. Performance, presentation, is the aim. A supposed climax, a manifestation, an irreversible judgement.
But what if practising is the aim? And is it possible to present this practice?
“A set of questions and half answers, of beginnings and appendices, of purposefully unmade decisions and open ends examine an unsteady love affair with dance as an art form. The audience is called to exercise their agility in recognising possible ways of reading the overlay of writing, voice and movement. Hereby the structure of a book forms a means of orientation and binds the overflowing material. A question arises at the end: Is Helen Schoene object or protagonist of the plot?”
“Helen Schoene’s frustration comes with separation from her mother tongue. Her diligent reading calls for ever increasing scrutiny as she grasps for meaning, trying to unpick each word. At her wit’s end, she turns back on herself, clutching at straws, searching through split ends.
Scanning, printing, reprinting, repeating, Schoene transforms the gallery into a site of production, as tresses, clumps and strands creep across the walls. Finding herself at the centre of an irrational web, the snake hair of Medusa emerging from her head, Schoene invites you to unpick the tangled mass with limited edition leporello booklets and jigsaw puzzles.”
“What I Wish For explores the interaction between projected 2D animation and live performance with the aim of integrating the 3-dimensional body of the performer into a 2-dimensional environment. Animated black and white drawings interact with each other and the performer to create fleeting narratives of an associative character, gently taking the viewer on a dreamlike excursion into a familiar yet surreal world of fantasy. The piece is based on myths, fairy tales and biblical stories and draws on visual representations of these.”
