Witness (2009 - ongoing)
STUK, Leuven, Battersea Arts Centre, London, The Basement, Brighton, Cafe Oto, London & Tate Modern, London
Witness is part of an ongoing series of works exploring re-enactment, memory in relation to digital video and group dynamics. It can be seen as a choreographic version of ‘Broken Telephones’.
The work usually involves us devising a site-responsive set of movements for up to five members of the public, this is then video-recorded. Five members of the public are then invited to watch the recording. They have to re-enact the video live. The re-enactment is recorded – a new group is invited to watch and re-enact and so on. Usually up to 7 re-enactments are made per day. At the end of a day, the videos are shown back to back to participants and other audience.
In 2013, we created a trilogy of Witness films in collaboration with STUK, Leuven.
Below is a version we created for Tate Modern in the Turbine Hall for four participants. The gestures in the 'starter film' were derived from the observation of movements of visitors to the gallery.