All the excitement about the visual arts during Basel can leave performing artists feeling neglected. But the experimental choreographers at Inkub8 are not to be left out. They hooked up with visual and sound artists and renamed their art form "visual dance" - at least for last week's performances. Smack dab in the alt Basel hood of Wynwood, Inkub8 offered what Inkub8rs call "after-after" parties, with an impressive roster of both visual artists and dancers collaborating on live performances that play with light, projections, sound, and, oh, yeah, movement.
Uncanny sound artist Gustavo Matamoros set up a night full of
vibrations emanating from what he refers to as the Inkub8 studio's
"acoustical signature" while Havana-based performance artists Yali
Romagoza and Hamlet Lavastida mingled with local experimental
choreographers like Heather Maloney and Letty Bassart. To find out more,
Cultist turned to Glexis Novoa, a visual artist who co-curated the show
with choreographer Heather Maloney.
New Times: What is "visual dance"?
Glexis Novoa: Visual Dance is a concept that proposes to
ignore the barriers between media and lead dancers and visual artists to
collaborate on a homogeneous event.
Why these artists?
Inkub8
has served as a laboratory for local contemporary dance, bringing
together artists with shared interest in contemporary movement
vocabulary. The dancers featured in this event have been active in
developing this space. The dancers, like the visual artists, have been
involved in the process of artmaking and action.
What's the difference between performance art and dance? Does it matter?
The
idea is to pretend that there are no differences, creating a language
that defines the creators as an artists, not dancers or visual artists.
So all are in a single list of artists.
Lots of people like to buy things during Basel. What can collectors take home from these events?
It
is a challenge to collectors, a suggestion to discover the value of the
ethereal. There are other ways to invest in art, such as sponsoring
events like these, not necessarily bring a trophy home.
Visit inkub8.org.
--Celeste Fraser Delgado of artburstmiami.com
