Devised in collaboration with Alecia Neo, Dis/En-tangling Concrete (24 minutes) is a video installation that emerges from an intention to perceive varied urban architectures as threads that choreograph the moving human body. We began the experiment with the questions: how can the structured-ness of urban architectures become movement prompts for a dancing body, and shape her contours, and in turn get re-framed by her? How are our bodies implicated into the choreography of public (State) architectures, and what are the possible movement idioms that can intervene or trouble that? Further into the process, we began to value the contrast that the fragility of the yarn as well as the moving body projected against the concrete/rigid discipline of these architectures. We saw the yarn breaking, the body getting bruised, yet the architectures remained unchallenged and unchanged. One key thought behind these explorations was to bring the female body and her yarn dance freely through these architectures, while claiming a ludic presence as well as a sense of frivolity in public spaces.
Concept: Meghna Bhardwaj
Site direction, Camera, Video Editing: Alecia Neo
Sound Editing: Marcel Zaes
Displayed as part of Meghna`s exhibition and artistic research titled Yarning,
Supported by Contemporary Performing Arts Research Residency, Esplanade- Theatres on the Bay, Singapore.
Year and Place of Premiere: 2022; Esplanade, Singapore.