‘Duet for two bicycles’ was included in the ‘Duets’ element of the exhibition ‘Laurie Anderson, Trisha Brown, Gordon Matta-Clark: Pioneers of the Downtown Scene, New York 1970s.’ 3 March – 22 May 2011 at the Barbican Centre.
I collaborated with Gabriel Dubois (Visual Artist) to produce an audiovisual piece mirroring a human relationship. The dance between two people in motion is a representational chart. The uncertain balancing act in which compromise, control, leading and following, and their varying paces are framed through the lens of a video camera attached to the back of their bicycles on one of their ritualistic rides. Their immediate environment and its mechanical rhythm is an interesting reflection of the urban state and our behavioural patterns within it. The delicate execution of the duet exposes the subtleties of human relationships in all its complexities in a beautifully simple way. As Trisha Brown has continued to explore the nature of motion and to choreograph dances based on everyday movements, so we are exploring the nature of motion within relationships based on an every day cycle ride- a mundane everyday activity that once exposed becomes far from mundane. It becomes an art form, a virtuosic dance capturing the turns, the over taking, the swaps, the pace, the light, the breath. The beauty of repetitive gestures. The elements of narrative and duration central to Laurie Anderson’s work is also referenced in this work as the cycle ride tells the story of two people finding their way together within the time frame of how long it takes to reach a their destination. Through a short film accompanied by a jointly composed musical score inspired by each other’s sonic observations of the journey, a duet for two bicycles takes the viewers on their own journey of embracing their everyday encounters.
“Vivacious and Seductive” Dr Sarah Wilson, Courtauld Institute.