This short dance film is part of our online exhibition Body & Power(lessness). It is made by Daria Titova (4th year ArtEZ Dancer/Maker) and Ekaterina Konovalova (4th year ArtEZ Graphic Design) and shows an embodied exploration of the inner fight with the external expectations that each one of us is facing on a daily basis.
At the time when everyone around is determined to be as successful and productive as possible, talking about the necessity to be adaptable, multitasking, hard-working, pretty, skinny, socially active and glowing with happiness, there is a rising tension between who you are, who you want or are supposed to be and what you just don’t accept in yourself. There is a constant doubt, inner dissatisfaction and the feeling that you are never enough. Video performance more_____, less_____, is showing the inner imbalance filled with numerous «I have to be more…» and «I can't accept that I’m less...», criticising modern «ideal people» tendencies. It is an embodied exploration of the inner fight with the external expectations that each one of us is facing on a daily basis.
The starting point for this work was the personal experience of the makers, but they wanted to include more stories in it, let other voices speak. During the creative process they anonymously interviewed friends and colleagues to find out what they actually feel and used what they shared as a source of inspiration for both - the projected text animation and movement language. They found a way to let the two mediums co-exist and create a coherent whole, taking a viewer on an emotional journey.
This project is related to the theme Body and Power(lessness) because it is an attempt to re-experience and express all the deep emotions that are stored in the body through the movement. In many ways, the rejection of oneself manifests itself in hatred of the body, perhaps its specific parts. This work is an attempt to regain the right to see yourself as you are, and not as others should see you; to take back the agency, the right to be vulnerable and human.
This work is part of our online exhibition The body and Power(lessness), on how we physically experience autonomy, power(lessness), (in)justice, care and collectivity. The body and Power(lessness) is our theme of this study year and we invite ArtEZ students to join us in our research and contribute with their own work (video, text, podcast or any other digitally shareable) for an online exhibition.
