Every Day: Siobhan Davies Dance
Gallery of Modern Art, Royal Exchange Square, Glasgow, G1 3AH
11 June - 16 June
From the Press Release
Six sculptural works by Scottish artists are seen alongside a choreographed work by Siobhan Davies Dance in an exhibition which explores the familiar, common and recurring objects, places and events that inhabit our daily routines.
The six artists (Laura Aldridge, Carla Scott Fullerton, Niall Macdonald, Scott Myles, Mick Peter and Hayley Tompkins) alter, transform and arrange everyday objects, creating new, sometimes bold and animated, versions of objects that fill our lives. Their contributions to this exhibition invite us to look more closely at the world around us, while the new work by Siobhan Davies Dance encourages us to notice how we orchestrate intricate actions.
Set out in GoMA’s grand, neo-classical ground floor gallery, Siobhan Davies Dance responds to the theme of the everyday with the immediacy of a new, live work by choreographer Siobhan Davies, made with solo dance artist, Helka Kaski. This piece is the first dance work commissioned by GoMA.
Siobhan Davies Dance have said, ‘We wished to find a way which would engagingly demonstrate that we are all expert in the movements that make up our daily lives. At one point, even if we were programmed to do so we all had to learn to roll, sit up, stand and walk. Gradually these movements became embodied and we do them without thinking.’
Kaski has invited audience members to help her do a familiar action by giving her a series of verbal instructions, for example standing up from a lying-down position. As they work together to complete the task, it becomes clear that what at first may appear easy is actually complex and extraordinary, often causing amusement and bemusement.
Ben Harman, Curator for Contemporary Art at Glasgow Museums has said, ‘Siobhan Davies Dance has an exciting track record of commissions and events at major institutions with projects that use live performance as a core element of their exhibitions and displays. Every Day shows sculptural work that could be activated and enhanced with a live presence in the gallery space and so highlights our physical relationship to such objects. Their live contribution will question audiences’ definition of sculpture and how that word could be applied to a moving person in space.’
