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Dance as exploration of mechanism experientially
To move is to feel and to be movement By dancing am I doing a "useful" thing? Why must the way I move be "functional"? Surely to be focused on the "useful" and "functional" is limiting to any notions of (body) mechanics The useful and the useless are together in the same room I make a fire to keep warm then I dance I sing all night long
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The poetic and fantastic is my preferred method of devising mechanical systems. A niggling doubt can be a starting point, a place to depart from. Here I become accustomed to the frustration of not knowing. I dodge working rationally and functionally in favour of digging in the dirt. More like archeology than engineering. A continued exploration of puppetry in design and performance feeds into my sculptural practise, providing a method for playful and experiential experimentation with objects and character. Performance is intrinsically time-based, character is expressed through often subtle changes of movements through to stillness and back to movement. Relationships are suggested through variations in the proximity between protagonists, in puppetry these are physically represented imaginary characters. The physical techniques of puppet performance allow a viewer (and the puppeteer) to be convinced of an object character’s realness to such an extent that we feel an empathy towards them and the situation they are in. Character and narrative have been devices for the preservation and communication of knowledge and wisdom throughout human history. The puppet aspect of my creative practise can be found at www.foldedfeather.com
The tools of precision are used for the imprecise the cogs and gears wear with friction causing another quality of moving The machine is released from functionality then it is wild can work can break can wear out can be in any way  Cam
 This Organ Most extraordinary of devices What is this? A solid thing opening closing geometry material variation in all knowledge here applied practically gifting function sensed and felt feeling harmonics apparent complexity conceals fluid abbreviation towards a most simple interface elegance of integration through many centuries of refinement flow allowed flow altered pipes open to space a manufactured lung a voice box simulation resonance connecting deeply to a human body heart soul
out from ground up across cluster spread nucleus periphery each takes makes beyond the centre from then becoming centre anew strength in numbers outward flow being done mechanical integration (design?) being this is what it is rather alternative iteration there is none other there is no design only there is becoming a consistent status of being that and this    Chair Projection 1 objects components (systems) broken busted reformed (become) an other thing sole purpose to be to hold to remain thing unmade made held flexible easily a body a system connective tissue seen unseen These precarious bodies are less about system failure than the unleashing of flexible and dynamic structures open to change.  Precarious Balance 2 - Tower  Chair Projection 2 in a system rather than that of fear- that balance will be lost unless the present status quo is maintained Instead that balance and authenticity are not lost ever they merely shift so that a previously unknown and unfamiliar point of balance is illuminated nothing is lost a newly uncovered dynamic relationship is discovered what is to be feared? what is to be secured? all is allowed the freedom to alter and change  Precarious Balance 1 (2020) Talking down dragonfly and butterfly prototypes exhibited for the week here at The Poly, Falmouth and couldn’t resist to reconnect with the life of Butterfly Prototype #5 (2016). A presentation of prototypes within the same room as a collection of masterfully designed and fabricated performing puppets assembled and presented by the Curious School of Puppetry. The Poly, Falmouth, Cornwall. 10-14 February 2020  The art pieces here presented are prototypes. They are form and movement explorations along my creative way; indicating where I have been and functioning as a physical-dynamic point of departure. Two separate journeys are presented in this selection of prototypes; A butterfly journey (2014 - 2017) culminating in the creation of the piece Flight is a Waltz, in collaboration with artist Dominic Harris, and presented at the prestigious Design Basel/Miami Exhibition in 2017. A dragonfly journey (2018-2019) resulting in the analogue, responsive work Dragonfly-Imago, the focus of a solo exhibition at Circus Gallery, Marylebone, London in 2019.  Puppetry is an art form which naturally transgresses boundaries.
Puppetry exists/has existed in some form within all traditional and modern cultures throughout the world. However simple, a puppet comes into being through an active observation of form, movement and rhythm. The physical aspect of puppetry is in essence a poetic exploration of what is currently termed biomechanics. The way in which a puppet is given movement by a person involves some form of interface, physical or remote. I feel that through an intimate relationship between Art and Science we all have much to gain. |
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April 2021
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For Oliver's puppetry practice please visit www.foldedfeather.com
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© Oliver Smart 2021
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