Synopsis
In her new video work, choreographer Meg Stuart explores the Vorklinik, a modernist building erected in 1971-76 for the University of Graz’s medical faculty, that has meanwhile been demolished, as it was considered too dysfunctional for further use. Together with two dancers, Stuart attempts to mark this brutal transition through a sensorial processing of the building’s vast, empty spaces. Like the modernist project, the attempt to fit their bodies into the architecture of the Vorklinik is slated to fail. With tenderness and sensuality, they connect past and future, dream and decay.
In her new video work, choreographer Meg Stuart explores the Vorklinik, a modernist building erected in 1971-76 for the University of Graz’s medical faculty, that has meanwhile been demolished, as it was considered too dysfunctional for further use. Together with two dancers, Stuart attempts to mark this brutal transition through a sensorial processing of the building’s vast, empty spaces. Like the modernist project, the attempt to fit their bodies into the architecture of the Vorklinik is slated to fail. With tenderness and sensuality, they connect past and future, dream and decay.
Full credits
- Section
- Out of Competition
- Director
- Meg Stuart
- Production countries
- Austria and Germany
- Production year
- 2023
- Duration
- 24 minutes
- Website
- https://www.damagedgoods.be/en/shelf-life
You might also like:
Bull Rider International Short Film Competition
Steven Gray, 2023, US, 2 min
Bull Rider merges meditations on dance from choreographer Martha Graham, music by composer Philip Glass and featuring bull rider in action Ouncie Mitchell.
HOW TO: Oh, look at me Out of Competition
GeoVanna Gonzalez, 2021, US, 12 min
HOW TO: Oh, look at me features four femmes of color. Two dancers and two poets interact with one another through words and movement, seeking reprieve from the constructs of our current reality. Revolving around a deconstructed playground, an installation designed by director and multidisciplinary artist GeoVanna Gonzalez.
Around its own axis New Dutch
Mirte van Duppen, 2020, NL, 12 min
Around its own axis showcases the infinite, repetitive rhythm of the automated Dutch agricultural landscape. Machines perform a dance, while choreographer Pauline Roelants, in the language of her profession, guides the viewer through the scenes. Thus, the silences and tranquility of the landscapes, interacting with the impulsive actions and mistakes of the machine, become an integral part of the choreography.