This work presents a site-specific and time-specific procession performance, “Invisible Structura I – Body, Sound, Space & Harmony”, that took place in Gloucester Cathedral on February 12th, 2011, As part of a year long artist-in-residency program.
This ephemeral work brought into light the unique interrelation that exists between the human body and the vast scale of the cathedral’s physical spaces.
Originally built in the 11th century by the Normans, the cathedral underwent different phases of its construction until finding a final form in the 15th century.
Within four centuries of construction, the process of designing, measuring, and building have not changed much. This is manifested by a remarkable method of using the human body and its proportions as a dimension reference, thus the body was used as a ruler and as a propagator of line and form.
The choreography of the performance was developed to bridge and mediate between the two scales and to reveal within the vast cathedral the cathedral structure measures as the cubit, span, foot and fathom.
This performance afforded to the participants a continuous embodied physical experience of the place. While exploring the vast spaces of the cathedral, different layers of time were juxtaposed,
interconnecting past and present, and so evoking empathy and appreciation.
Sound played a significant role as the conjoining element between all performance ingredients. By intertwining the body, as well as the spacial and the time experiences, sound spiralled forward and backwards in space, contextualising all facets into a rich experience of the place.
Collaborators: Edwin Hillier (composer), Ruth Cross & Kathy Gilks (Choreography & Movement), Pascal Mychalysin (mastermason)
Gloucester Cathedral, UK, 2011
Project was supported by the City of Gloucester, Gloucester Cathedral, Gloucestershire University and Art Council England
The project was nominated for the prize Art in Christian Context” 2015
The project book can be found here:
http://www.amazon.com
