They are two artists from different worlds.
One works on the dance floor, bending aesthetic with physical movement, exploring the sense of the body. The other works with his hands to create short and eerie meter-high pieces as visual statements.
One day, the choreographer came across the sculptor’s pieces and realized their goals were the same. In an instant connection, a new team was born.
“We get along well as collaborators because we were after kind of the same thing using the tools of the opposite person,” choreographer Dean Moss said of his relationship with Korean sculptor Sungmyung Chun.
Moss and Chun have collaborated to create Nameless forest, a dance performance exploring the presence of material elements in life’s journey, which runs at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center’s Kogod Theatre tonight and tomorrow.
Moss, who for 19 years has been exploring themes of identity in his works, came across Chun’s work in Seoul, South Korea and said he was inspired to create a performance out of viewing the sculptures.
The team conceived the project in 2007 but only began working on it in 2009. Moss said the gap between years let him observe how Chun’s works evolved over time.
Moss said the question he’s trying to answer in the performance is synthesized in the hypothetical of getting new clothes: How will a person’s relationship with the world change if he or she suddenly has a new pair of shoes or a new shirt? The response to the addition of new material makes up his piece’s exploration, he said.
“This work changed the way we looked at our practice – both of us,” Moss said. “And those elements of the other – the sculptural elements, the performative elements, the drama, the use of narratives that function within Nameless forest – all came about as a response to the dialogue he and I were having.”
At the beginning of the performance, 15 audience members are invited onstage to participate. Moss said the audience members’ purpose among the cast is to reflect the action of walking through and experiencing the sculptures for the first time.
“Nameless forest reflects a journey that the audience takes with the performance,” Moss said. “That’s what Nameless forest is about, and valuing the unknown, and all the things that come with moving through the unknown.”
Nameless forest, a performance created by choreographer Dean Moss and sculptor Sungmyung Chun, runs tonight and tomorrow at 8 p.m. at CSPAC’s Kogod Theatre. Tickets are $9 for students, $35 for adults. This performance contains full nudity.
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