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M+, Hong Kong, © Charles Atlas/EAI
On View
Mediatheque
Charles Atlas 查爾斯．阿特拉斯
Merce Cunningham 摩斯．康寧漢
Interscape 交互景觀
2001
This film documents a late work by avant-garde choreographer Merce Cunningham that honours several of the influential artists with whom he collaborated with in his long career. Painter Robert Rauschenberg designed the costumes and backdrop, creating a mirage-like blend of architectural and natural imagery, while composer John Cage’s 1991 solo for cello provides the score. The abstract spurts of sound, combined with spaces of near silence allow the dancers’ audible movements and breathing to become an active part of the performance. The choreography juxtaposes slow movement—requiring a high level of control from the dancers—with vigorous passages. With movement as its main subject, rather than a specific narrative, the work demands precision and coordination without the usual rhythmic music cues that underpin many forms of dance.
Cunningham and Atlas developed an approach they called ‘media dance’, where the camera became an active part of the choreography and the audience’s experience alongside the dancers themselves. Atlas left the dance company in the early 1980s and went on to make independent films exploring the intersections between dance, art, and urban subcultures; Cunningham continued to choreograph and lead the company until his death in 2009.
Cunningham and Atlas developed an approach they called ‘media dance’, where the camera became an active part of the choreography and the audience’s experience alongside the dancers themselves. Atlas left the dance company in the early 1980s and went on to make independent films exploring the intersections between dance, art, and urban subcultures; Cunningham continued to choreograph and lead the company until his death in 2009.
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