Spinner

Spinner (2019- 2022)

Spinner centres around the idea that the artistic environment has a subjectivity, needs and expressions on its own terms. Shaped by transactional factors, such as time, research space and financial support, the practice has built different milestones to become its own landscape.

Oscillating around the notion of what meaning can be, the work creates vibrating forms and absurd approaches, where it is possible to give and receive meaningful information. Meaning is approached as always communicative and therefore always affective. As a result of collaboration, the space in between is highlighted and consequently materialised; electrically charged with movement, attraction, repulsion, fascination, dreams, desires, misunderstanding and the never ending duty of attending the other. In this electric field lies the quality and aesthetic of a meeting, that expands into the sphere of where the spectator can meet themselves through joining the material with imagination.

Sigrid Stigsdatter and Toni Steffens started their collaboration in 2017 when studying at the School for New Dance Development, in Amsterdam. Throughout the years, they have been created a body of work that researches and deals with the politics of collaboration as a shared encounter. Their choreographic practice tries to evoke a space that can communicate, negotiate and alternate its needs like a self expressing environment. Agency occurs by relating to the other and the environment as a sensitive stranger that has to be re-encountered, memorised or yet to be found out. Topics and questions that materialise out of their universe touch upon themes like synchronicity, friendship, practicing female witness-ship, intimacy, sensuality, memories and nomadism.

Credits:Choreography and performance: Toni Steffens, Sigrid Stigsdatter

Advise: Maciej Sado

Light design: Paulina Prokop

Costume: Ginta Tinte

Set design: Toni Steffens, Sigrid Stigsdatter

Co-produced and supported through Afk Amsterdam, Dansmakers Amsterdam, Bologna C.C.,

8-Athens, critical laboratory for Arts and politics, Veem House for Performance,

New Fears Gallery for dance and performance, Flam festival Amsterdam, Batard Festival Brussels

Booking info:

Length: 40 minutes

Technical info: We are presenting this piece together with out light designer Paulina Prokop. It includes a simple Set Design, that can be transported in a Van. The set up is discussible and adaptive to the conditions of the venue.

Reviews and reflections, documentation:

Flam Festival, Theaterkrant 2022: https://www.theaterkrant.nl/nieuws/flam-2022-weemoedig-stemmende-geesten/
Ivan Cheng, curator of Bologna CC, 2019: https://antoniasteffens.tumblr.com/post/189745978055/november-2019-hosted-by-bologna-cc-ivan-cheng
PDF version of New Fears Issue #1, 2020: https://www.newfears.net/_files/ugd/94abe5_b0a340228e9b4fb8b156b18a21aa2d31.pdf

Thomas Lenden, Flam Festival 2022


Former Forms
Former forms appear as materialised memories or “half-forgotten” materials in the realm of performing arts or life arts. Being both elements of former performances and elements that have been appeared and performed before, former forms mostly work as reminder of pasts, that one is unable to memorise or as defaults and disturbances of functions that belong to their former life, and which they now do not want to associate with anymore. Becoming dysfunctional in respect of their past, former forms are desperately asking the viewer and collaborator to revisit their agency while not forgetting their former identity. Former forms can be found within set design, sounds, physical practices and words. They operate in relation to their significance: while being mostly still identified as a sign x they claim to not be able to any longer represent or pursue specific ideological or functional activity and ask for state of retirement or repurpose. Former forms are mostly philosophically ahead of their users, entering into their living context to open up discourse and  perspective on what they are or became in the meantime. Former forms in that respect detect potential futures while remembering their own pasts. These futures though can only be generated by collective intervention and radical reconsideration of what those forms are able to be. Former forms attract humans in the re-pre-mirror state, who are again not able to sharply identify the borders of subjects and/or subobjects. Former forms are therefore intersubjective subobjects dealing with the chronics of significance of non-humans, that have been utilised by humans in order to write fiction, to not say history. Their main function can be seen in the stubborn insistence of motivating the human to re-evaluate this function and utilisation and hopefully rewrite, actualise and alternate their function.Former forms refer to holographic processes that transform information into form that expresses frequency. Former forms long for an activation that alters their frequency and detects their hidden information expressing their desire of being and not their function of being.

Weaving Passages for the momentous

An Attendee

Orange Rest/Sacrifice

Spinner

Metamotion for 270degrees

Hope, Test

Night Flying Project

Movement

delineations

Unfamiliarities

DATES/ NEWS

2-3/09/2023: "Line,lo0sing line", Research Presentation at Oldenaller, commissioned by Fransien van der Putt, working with the archive of painter Claartje Berger
3-5/07/2023: Research residency at Oldenaller, commissioned by Fransien van der Putt, working with the archive of painter Claartje Berger
23/06/2023: "THE FATE CAST / IN THE SEARCH / OF FOUR PETALS", during " Even in the dark I know I am sleeping with myself" at Perdu Amsterdam, Collaboration with Mercedes Azpilicueta
24/05/2023: "SPRING WOUNDS" as part of the warp, a shared evening at KUNSTKAPEL, AMSTERDAM
14/04/2023: "ORANGE REST/ SACRIFICE", ATELIERS PACT ZOLLVEREIN, ESSEN
30/03/2023: "WEAVING PASSAGES FOR THE MOMENTOUS", Extra Intra Reader #2 :A SLIGHT BREATH, editors HARRIET FOYSTER, ROSIE HAWARD, NELL SCHWAN, editorial board for  intercurricular Programmes, GERRIT RIETVELD ACADEMY, SAN SERIFFE, AMSTERDAM 2023
10/11/2022:  "HOPE,TEST- A STRATEGY OF PERFORMATIVE MEMORIES", PUBLISHER: 4BID GALLERY AMSTERDAM
SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2022: "SPINAL CATASTROPHE" RESEARCH PROJECT, SUPPORTED BY NEUSTART KULTUR, #TAKE HEART, PACT ZOLLVEREIN, BERLIN/AMSTERDAM, RESEARCH
SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2022: DRAMATURGY FOR ELVAN TEKIN, TANZFABRIK BERLIN
08/07/2022: "THE FATE CAST / IN THE SEARCH / OF FOUR PETALS", DURING "CHANGE FEELING" , COLLABORATION WITH MERCEDES AZPILICUETA, VANABBE MUSEUM EINDHOVEN  
02+03/07/2022: "ON J0YFUL MILITANCY", PERFORMING FOR MERCEDES AZPILICUETA, ROZENSTRAAT, AMSTERDAM
19/05/2022: "SPINNER" PREMIER AT FLAM FESTIVAL AMSTERDAM
08/05/2022: "AN ATTENDEE" MANDALA FESTIVAL, WROCLAV
14/03-04/04: RESIDENCY AT WORKSPACE BRUSSELS