Slow Dance | Monique van Hinte / Nina Lawina

Slow Dance, Monique van Hinte (The Netherlands) Film, curated playlist, improvised & choreographed movement. November 2017. During the four-hour First Friday Festival of Lights, once every hour for the duration of 15 minutes, Elsewhere rocked to the gentil rythm and cadence of a Slow Dance. Simutaneuously on three floors, either on video or live, performers entangled and disentangeled, while the audience roamed freely through the building and was implicitly invited to join in the dance. Slow Dance was scripted on found footage, the unique vinyl singles of Elsewhere. Eventhough this collection is unique to this place, the american south, as well as historicaly dated, it is universal in that it reflects personal, social and sometimes political catalysts that cause the perpetualy repeating human movement of uniting and seperating. Our actions reflect and shape the things we leave behind. One can see Elsewhere’s collection as a soil—a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support life. As visitors, artists, interns, and staff come and go, they leave behind traces of the outside world. During her residency, the artist sought to approach Elsewhere’s collection as if a geologist, unearthing meaning between objects, people, and place.

Slow Dance, Monique van Hinte aka Nina Lawina (The Netherlands)
November 2017. Video projections, performance, recordings of vinyl singles.

Slow Dance is a series of ephemeral performances that weave together light, movement, and music that reflect van Hinte’s investigations.

Throughout her time at Elsewhere, van Hinte approached the museum’s collection as a geologist, unearthing meaning between objects, people, actions, and place.

During the work’s opening exhibition, van Hinte transformed the museum in its entirety at each three-quarter hour. Participants were invited to follow paths of light and music to discover more video installations and intimate, slow dance performances. In van Hinte’s words: “Slow dancing captures moments of lives intermingling and unraveling, uniting and separating while the objects around us bear witness and record.”

Songs for the performances were mostly recorded from Elsewhere’s singles collection, which van Hinte listened to in its entirety. Much like the introduction of outside elements like the dancing performers and the neighboring café depicted in the video above, there were introductions of two, non-collection songs into the piece.

Featured performers: Arlene Clark, Kenneth Williams, Aryeh Weiner, Ian Gamble, and Rimona Law.

Process Photographs

curated playlist, Spotify (left)
14 songs, 46 min 48 sec
During the four-hour First Friday Festival of Lights, once every hour for the duration of 15 minutes, Elsewhere rocked to the gentle rhythm and cadence of a Slow Dance.

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