Siobhan Davies Commissions (2011)
  • Title: Siobhan Davies Commissions (2011)
  • Summary: High definition video Henry Montes and Marcus Coates experimented with the role of physical movement in approaching and understanding questions. Filming members of the public in their homes and places of work, Montes invited them to ask a question which Coates used as a catalyst to spontaneously approach through movement. Montes mediates between the participants' questions and Coates' subsequent movement so the participant can direct and choreograph Coates to get what they need from his movement. This relationship explores the potential functionality of contemporary dance/movement and its potency as an empathetic language to articulate unconscious reasoning.
  • Work: A Question of Movement
  • Choreographer: Siobhan Davies
  • Dancer: Jon French
  • Sound Engineer: John Avery
  • Photographer: Abi Oseni
  • Artist: Henry Montes, Marcus Coates
  • Editor: Deborah May
  • Analysis: The questions Coates and Montes ask of movement are… Can it be functional in relating to everyday concerns? Can it address pragmatic issues?

    ‘We see these people at home or at work, surrounded by filing cabinets, kitchenware or mantelpiece knickknacks, and yet these mundane settings do not diminish the scale of the questions they ask: a student would like to know how he can resist being constantly distracted; a woman asks why everything goes round and round without end. These are intimate questions at the centre of everyday existence, both epic in proportion and common as air.’ Sally O’Reilly (Catalogue Essay)

    Here, the question is revealed for the first time to Coates who responds with movement only, while Montes mediates and prompts responses to the movement, “Does this movement give you any insight to your question?”, “How else could this movement be developed to respond to your question?” The participant becomes the choreographer, directing the movement towards an interpretation that is meaningful to them.

    Six films were originally created. Three of the films were shown at Bargehouse.
  • Venue: Bargehouse, London
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