Andante

ANDANTE

Presented at the 24-Hour Program on the Concept of Time (January 7, 2009), Curated by Nancy Spector at the Peter B. Lewis Theater, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY

Materials:
Three Projected Video Sequences, Sound, Theatrical Lighting, Steam, Water, Mirrors, Celestial Props, Gauze, Platform, Meteorological Balloon, and Four Players (Silent)

Duration:
28’00”

Sound:
David Monacchi.

Players:
Michaela Jones Slavid, Adrienne Rooney, Nicole and Leesa Abahuni

Photography:
Tanya Pann

Andante was a 28-minute collage of independent, simultaneous time sequences, including sound, created for the January 6-7, 2009 24-Hour Program on the Concept of Time at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York.

The work began in darkness. A shrouded, prone figure draped in gauze lay before a large video screen at the center of the stage. Above the form, a large open eye slowly closed and reopened, making a single, fluid blink over a three-minute period.

The sound of a pair of heartbeats and a continuous, single breath rose and fell, weaving into a field of electronic undertones, which measured the passing time.

A plume of steam ascended from the left of the stage. To the right, a pair of identical twins passed a large, translucent balloon back and forth, gradually expanding and collecting their breath as it inflated.

Onscreen, the eye dissolved into a suspended motion time-lapse of a lake’s surface over a full day cycle, followed by a narrative, where starlings whirled in formation, a hand danced against a mountain, and a field of geysers emitted steam, mirroring the actual fumerole to the left.

Just before and below the stage, a young woman gazing upward deliberately animated a series of celestial forms, projecting shadows and reflected light onto the round ceiling of the theater.

The video then faded into darkness, returning to a final, prolonged blink.

Andante was a eulogy for the passage of time, a tableau vivant that juxtaposed nature and culture, suggesting the asynchrony of their evolution and transformations.