Sriwhana Spong: Im Wintergarten

As part of the Gallery Weekend, the New Zealand artist Sriwhana Spong is showing the exhibition “Im Wintergarten” at daadgalerie, its starting point being a once-only performance.

At the centre of the exhibition stands a keyed metallophone created by Sriwhana Spong, which is based on the tuning system of the Balinese Gamelan Orchestra where pairs of instruments are purposely detuned. One part of the pair is referred to as the “inhaler”, the other as the “exhaler”. When played simultaneously these paired instruments create an acoustic beating known as ‘ombak’, comparable to an acoustic wavelike motion. The score for Sriwhana Spong’s keyed metallophone will be accompanied by a choreography created by Benjamin Ord in collaboration with Michael-John Harper and will be performed live by both dancers. A recording of the composition will be later available to hear within the exhibition.
The choreography reconsiders the traditional pas de deux (or ‘step of two’) through the dynamics of contemporary seduction it implied, inspired by both Manet’s painting “Im Wintergarten” and Jean Genet’s film “Un chant d’amour”.