Shian Law
Vanishing Point
Vanishing Point
“…the issue this time is to indicate the precise point in the present to which my historical construction will orient itself, as to its vanishing point.” Walter Benjamin
Both hybrid performance project and two-year experiment, Vanishing Point explores the ambiguity of authorship and the possibility of preservation in performance art. Dancer Shian Law (Jo Lloyd, BalletLab, Lz Dunn, Lara Thoms) employs a range of (un)orthodox strategies including documentary, archiving, fabrication and outright theft, to pose the question: “Whose show is this?”
In the work, Law – a trans-media artist and compulsive experimentalist – takes a quasi-archivist approach, documenting and historicising his bodily encounter with three choreographic works by dance luminaries Phillip Adams, Deanne Butterworth and Jo Lloyd. A team comprising documentary makers and a portrait painter then record the elapsing time as Law locates, excavates and performs the dance works.
Vanishing Point playfully and stealthily maps the constellation of lineage, questions of authenticity, and the multiple folds that frame a portrait of a contemporary artist.
Both hybrid performance project and two-year experiment, Vanishing Point explores the ambiguity of authorship and the possibility of preservation in performance art. Dancer Shian Law (Jo Lloyd, BalletLab, Lz Dunn, Lara Thoms) employs a range of (un)orthodox strategies including documentary, archiving, fabrication and outright theft, to pose the question: “Whose show is this?”
In the work, Law – a trans-media artist and compulsive experimentalist – takes a quasi-archivist approach, documenting and historicising his bodily encounter with three choreographic works by dance luminaries Phillip Adams, Deanne Butterworth and Jo Lloyd. A team comprising documentary makers and a portrait painter then record the elapsing time as Law locates, excavates and performs the dance works.
Vanishing Point playfully and stealthily maps the constellation of lineage, questions of authenticity, and the multiple folds that frame a portrait of a contemporary artist.
14 – 19 March 2017
Dance Massive
Arts House Meat Market
60m 00s
Concept, performance: Shian Law
Choreography: Phillip Adams, Deanne Butterworth, Jo Lloyd
Cinematography: James Wright
Editor: James Wright
Lighting and Set Design: Matthew Adey
Painting: Tait Sengstock
Sound Design: Marco Cher-Gibard
Photography: Christine Francis
Format: RED Helium, Canon C300MKII
