image/Word.not_a_pipe=(Magritte), 2002
16mm film
A lone man in an overcoat and bowler hat is obscurely displaced as he dances on a deserted windy beach, over a grassy knoll and through a crowded street. The figure represents Magritte’s familiar symbol of the Everyman. Kinetic and fast, the film uses surrealist techniques including frames within frames, dynamic text, and familiar objects that float around the dancer — an apple, a pipe, an umbrella — to transform the image beyond the real.
Performed by: Yannis Adoniou
Collaborators: Mathieu Borysevicz, Tomi Paasonen, John Bishop, Kate Armstrong & Keith Doyle
Music: Nobukazu Takemura
7:30 minutes long
The live dancer, represented by the same Everyman, also comments on the signifier versus the signified, the danced image versus the dancer. Michel Foucault’s text, Ceci n’est pas une pipe, is referenced by transposing words and images into code patterns from programming language in order to explore the distinction between similitude and resemblance.
The performative installation features three projections and a live dancer in an architecturally designed environment. Pre-edited segments or phrases of 16mm film referencing Magritte’s seminal image will interact with the performer — the same Man in the Bowler Hat, implying a conversation between the man and his image, or the signifier and signified. Incorporated into the installation will be a textual component inspired by code, transforming the meaning of words and phrases interpolated into the pattern of the installation. Inspired by and using patterns from HTML, Cold Fusion and Java, the code will incorporate new variables chosen to build on and newly explore some of Foucault’s concepts of the shifting meaning in Magritte’s images.
The trilogy of projections play off each other, further enhanced by the presence of the live dancer. Most of his movement is improvised, fitting in with the random and programmed code inherent to the media. In addition to the hypertext that floats through the image, time-code and key-code — acknowledged film references — are burned into the bottom of the image. As most of the 16mm film was shot in a composed yet spontaneous manner, the random character of the projected media and the dancer’s movements in relation to the images will complete the concept of improvisation that is inherent to both the media and the dance.
The film is a single channel exploration of Magritte’s seminal image and Foucault’s ideas transposed into code. Almost eight minutes long, the piece is composed in three parts, with each movement set in a different location: on a deserted windy beach, over a grassy knoll and through a crowded street. Fast and kinetic, the music drives the images and the hyper-speed of the editing. The use of multiple screens is used, referencing Magritte’s frame within frames. Viewed in a linear fashion, the film is a succinct and simplified version of the manifold imagery found in the installation.
SCREENINGS + EXHIBITIONS
REGARDS HYBRIDES COLLECTION Curated program of Canadian Screendance 2022
WINSOR GALLERY
Capture Photography Festival
Hypnagogic Rhythms Group Exhibition
Vancouver, Canada
September 2013
MEDIA ART LAB / URBAN SCREEN
Public Screening in Red Square
St. Petersberg, Russia
July 2012
MOSCOW BIENNALE OF CONTEMPORARY ART
Media Museum Virtual Theatre / MediaArtLab
Moscow, Russia
March 2007
MEDIATED BODIES
Media Technologies in Dance
Dublin & Limerick, Ireland
September 2007
DANZLENZ
DanceFilm in India
Delhi, India
September 2006
JUMPING FRAMES
Hong Kong Dance Festival
Hong Kong, China
June 2006
MEDIAMATIC
Cinedans Interactive
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
June 2006
CYNETart_05nature
Dresden, Germany
November 2005
INTERACTIVE FUTURES
Victoria Independent Film & Video Festival
Victoria, Canada
February 2005
FILE FESTIVAL 2004
Electronic Language International Festival
Buenos Aires, Brazil
December 2004
Won Second Prize
KINODANCE
St. Petersburg International Dance Film Festival
St. Petersburg, Russia
November 2004
CAPTURED
Dance Theater Workshop
Dance on Screen
New York, USA
November 2004
FIVU 2004
Body, Image & Movement
Montevideo, Uruguay
October 2004
NEW FORMS FESTIVAL
Vancouver, Canada
October 2004
SZIGET ART FESTIVAL
Budapest, Hungary
August 2004
MOSCOW INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
Moscow, Russia
June 2004
Won Third Prize
AMERICAN DANCE FESTIVAL
Dance for the Camera
Durham, North Carolina
June 2004
Winner of Certificate of Recognition
DANCE ON CAMERA WEST
Redcat Theater
Los Angeles, California
June 2004
MOTION PICTURES
Film at the Prince
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
June 2004
DANCE ON CAMERA WEST FESTIVAL
Los Angeles, California
Installed as a sculptural, multiple channel
piece in an outdoor environment.
June 2004
NAPOLIDANZA
IL Coreografo Elettronico
Napoli, Italy
May 2004
KUNST-STOFF
ODC Theater
San Francisco, California
Performed as a three channel, sculptural installation with live dancer improvising.
May 2004
SENEF
Seoul Net & Film Festival
Seoul, Korea
May 2004
SCREEN 360
Children’s Film Festival
San Francisco, California
July 2003
FRANKFURT BALLETT
Das TAT im Bockenheimer Depot
Frankfurt, Germany
Programmed as a live, performed installation with multiple screens as part of the company’s season.
March 2003
VIDEODANSA 9A MOSTRA
Barcelona, Spain
February 2003
DANCE ON CAMERA FESTIVAL
New York, USA
January 2003
DANCE SCREEN
Monte Carlo, Monaco
December 2002