A video and musical installation ornamented by a suspended circus artist and acrobat, ANIMA exposes the audience to a physical sensation of time, telling the story of the invisible metamorphoses of the landscapes and places with which we coexist.
An immersive multidisciplinary installation by French visual artist/photographer Noémie Goudal, theater director Maëlle Poésy, circus artist Chloé Moglia, and composer Chloé Thévenin, ANIMA sits at the crossroads of visual, photographic, musical, video, and scenic arts. The work is grounded in the artists' interest in recent discoveries in paleoclimatology, the study of ancient climate, whereby researchers are able to make projections about the future based on the metamorphoses and mutations that occurred in the distant past. The arid expanses of the Sahara, for example, were once rich in vegetation fed by lakes and rivers, and Antarctic ice covers land where tropical rainforest once bloomed.
These extreme mutations of terrestrial topography are imperceptible to the human gaze. Through the medium of images of palm trees, rocks, caves, and water in continual metamorphosis projected onto a triptych of giant screens, Goudal and Poésy confront the viewer with an experience of human impermanence. Thevenin’s music, a mix of electronics and recordings of sounds of flowing water, winds, and wildlife coalesces with the images to create a sense of the fragility of landscapes, the power of the elements, and the vertiginous nature of time.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Noémie Goudal
Noémie Goudal is a French artist who graduated from the Royal College of Art in 2010 with an MA in Photography and lives and works between Paris and London. practice involves the construction of ambitious staged, illusionistic installations within the landscape, documented using film and photography. Goudal’s interventions are under pinned by rigorous research examining the intersection of ecology and anthropology, interrogating the limitations of theoretical conceptions of the natural world.
Maëlle Poésy
Actress, writer, and director Maëlle Poésy was born in 1984, and trained at the École supérieure d'art dramatique of the Théâtre national de Strasbourg. In her work, she pursues a “theatre of confrontation” which questions society and its individual components. Most recently she has directed 7 Minutes at the Comédie-Française and Glory on Earth. In September 2021 Poésy became director of the Théâtre Dijon-Bourgogne, Centre dramatique national.
Chloé Moglia
Chloé Moglia is a French trapeze aerial artist, choreographer, and dancer. Born in 1978, Moglia began her training on the trapeze at ENACR (École Nationale des Arts du Cirque de Rosny-sous-Bois) and studied at CNAC (Centre national des arts du cirque) before taking up martial arts. Her current artistic practice is equally influenced by both disciplines. Her shows and performances play with bodies, slowness, the laws of physics, and vertigo. A defender of embodied thought and of a sensitive representation of physicality, she combines attention and acuity by weaving together physical practice, reflection, and sensitivity. She is the director of Compagnie Rhizome, which she founded in 2009.
Chloé Thévenin
A DJ who performs in clubs and festivals, Chloé Thévenin also works in the studio to create worlds and climates and build bridges with other cultures. The albums she produces are like so many electronic self-portraits. She has composed film soundtracks as well as the music to several dance shows. In 2021, she was tasked with creating the new sound design for France Culture.
ABOUT CIRQUE NOUVEAU
Dynamic, innovative, and participatory, Circus Arts (Cirque Nouveau), which traces its roots to the streets of 1970s France, from its inception challenged genre boundaries and blended acrobatic physicality and athleticism with elements of theater, music, dance, new media, and the visual arts. Artistically-driven, politically astute, inventive, rebellious, hybridized: contemporary circus is reinventing itself as a new multidisciplinary genre. This is an art form for our times, provisional, improvisatory, but with the potential for forging a sense of common purpose and embodying community.
The inspiration for presenting this program in Contemporary Circus at PS21 was born at Montréal Complètement Cirque in 2020, organized by TOHU, where we participated in discussions devoted to commissioning, creating, presenting, and touring International Contemporary Circus Arts performances in North America and around the world. Since then, this collaboration has evolved into an international initiative of a group of dedicated presenters (including TOHU Montreal, Ruhr Triennale, and PS21, among others) that shares resources, opportunities, and expertise to support new creative work.
Credits
Conception and realization, Noémie Goudal and Maëlle Poésy Choreography and Movement, Chloé Moglia Original music, Chloé Thévenin Set design, Hélène Jourdan Lighting, Mathilde Chamoux Costumes, Camille Vallat General and set management, Géraud Breton Sound management, Samuel Babouillard Video and lighting management, Pierre Mallaisé Assistants, Clara Labrousse, Pauline Thoër Production management, Miléna Noirot Distribution, Florence Bourgeon
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Date & Time
Aug 31 - Sep 4, 2023
Venue Details
PS21 Open-Air Pavilion Theater
2980 New York 66 Chatham, New York 12037
PS21: Performance Spaces for the 21st Century
Established in Chatham, NY in 2006, PS21 supports innovative performing artists and creators and introduces their work to a broader audience, while also providing the surrounding region with opportunities for arts engagement regardless of economic status, cultural background, and age.
Five acres of PS21's 100+ acres are developed; the rest are meadows and woodlands. Situated near the theater are the Dance Barn, a rehearsal and performance venue, and two artists’ residences accommodating sixteen individuals. The PS21 property is also host to the Chatham Farm Animal Rescue. PS21's new theater and rural campus are important resources for both visiting artists and the community, optimized for the public's enjoyment and to encourage citizen expression and participation.
The 350-seat theater is a state-of-the-art, green facility offering resident makers and performers the tools and flexibility for successful innovation and collaboration in the development of sophisticated multi-media work. Few other US facilities are able to provide this level of technical support. PS21 operates year-round, supporting performances by and residencies for dancers, choreographers, musicians, composers, actors and creators. The summer season is PS21's public highlight, during which a full calendar of performances is augmented with a myriad of events and workshops, many of which are free of charge and involve community collaboration with the gifted artists in residence.
PHOTOGRAPHY PS21 will take photos of this event for use in social media and on our website. The photos sometimes include audiences. Your attendance at this performance indicates you consent to appear in PS21 photography. If you would prefer not to appear in any photos, please let a staff member know, and we will be glad to accommodate your request.
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