Bjarte Wildeman

Works

Selected works, performances and exhibitions

*photo and video documentation is situated under each text*

'Tiny Proprioceptions' // Westduinpark / KABK, The Hague // 2020

Instructions for location-based body-experience.

In an attempt to look closer at tiny perceptions in the moving body (proprioception and kinesthesia), these instructions were created as separate small exercises or training grounds for these senses and our sensitivity to them.

This evolved into a D.I.Y., ‘step-by-step’ gradual buildup toward the concept of Proprioceptive and Kinesthetic Mapping; The act of exploring, recording, measuring or mapping architecture,objects and spaces not by ‘conventional’ measurements, but by how our bodies are moved because of them, and which movements the moving body has to make.

The instructions in this booklet are all location-based in the combined areas of Westduinpark, Zuiderstrand and (the bunkers of) Dynamic Landscape park in The Hague, NL. Each location brings certain circumstances, making execution of the instructions more viable. They are ordered as a route, building up sensitivity to proprioception and kinesthesia along the way.

A publication containing several location-based instructions or excercises, as a way to highlight and enhance our experience of the kinesthetic and proprioceptive (movement) senses in our bodies.

The publication is available here:

Computer: https://online.fliphtml5.com/ctqct/dkpo/

Phone: https://online.fliphtml5.com/ctqct/bwqm/

Documentation below is from a performance of the last instruction in the publication: 'Vaulted Bunker'

Eigenlicht (Horizon) V.1.5 // Online / The Hague // 2020

“Perception is yours, colour is not universal

Playing into the strength of our eyes

Imagine a colour that you cannot see

Now do that again with me”

With the first Covid-19 lockdown in full effect, I decided that I wanted to attempt to, instead of forcing a live performance into a screen, embrace this weird “screen-bound” time and make a work specifically for screens.

Using the body as a source, I came to Eigenlicht (Braingrey) and the decreased colour perception in our peripheral vision.

'Eigenlicht' being the phenomenon when, because of a lack of stimuli in the eye, the brain starts to synthesize its own stimuli.

It seems interesting combine the two, and create a sense of colour where there might be none.

I created sets of close distance visuals, utilising some of the “hacks” of binocular vision which take place in the same or similar mechanisms of Eigenlicht and peripheral colour perception.

The brain is merging, diverging, lacking or contrasting stimuli and thus creating a sort of “third image”.

An online videowork for a one-person experience, playing, manipulating and triggering mechanisms already present in our eyes and brains, while maintaining a physical aspect.

*The experience is designed for full-screen view*

'If one walks...' // Zaal 3, The Hague // 2020

A collaborative group performance on System Theory

A trail of live sounds is created in darkness. A texture of guttural sounds forms a new language and coordinates actions. Light triggers the formation of clusters of bodies while leaving others isolated in the dark. Scenes emerge and disperse, collective effort propels them forward.

This performance is the result of 3-week workshop on System Theory and experimentation with feedback mechanisms and rule-based performance systems. How can actions be generated by setting simple rules and conditions, and how can those rules give rise to collective compositions? How can the body’s physical immediacy, its spatial movement and its participation and synchronization within groups form the base of a performance system?

If one walks… is a performance by students from the ArtScience Interfaculty exploring the intricate behaviour of systems through movement and collaborative art practice.

Inter-Individual Tension Fields // KABK, The Hague // 2020

Work in Progress, shown as part of the KABK Open Day 2020

*Due to Covid-19 regulations, finalization of this work sadly had to be (temporarily) halted.*

Intra-individual fluctuations generate inter-individual tension fields.

An experiment exploring how individuals, while inherently different, can create a (symbiotic) whole.

Having a form of agency and control in this whole, but being fully dependant on the other to create this whole. And thus, this tension field exists between several bodies, and could not emerge from any single body.

A performance in which the tension or connection between bodies is explored and stated, through the shared ground of breathing and the possible effect on the parasympathetic nervous system. Extending this action of breath between bodies can create a focal point for a third, shared action.

Motions Measured in 15 // De Nieuwe Regentes, The Hague // 2019

Part of 'HUBS Immersive Festival 2019; (voluntary) EXILE & HOSPITALITY'

This performance-installation forms the translation of one’s own body, the extension of oneself, as well as an almost living entity of its own. The installation lets one enter into a dialogue with oneself, speaking the same words, but another language. It explores spatial dimensions and creates a play of light and shadows in its surroundings. Motions Measured in… is an exploration of connected movement, extended motion and the human body in relation to other bodies and the surrounding space.

For this iteration, Motions Measured in ... was expanded to control 15 glowing orbs, filling and crossing the space 'under the Tribune' in the Grote Zaal of De Nieuwe Regentes theatre. This performance focused more on the conversation between bodies that are different but the same, and feeling the surroundings through that dialogue.

All photographs for Motions Measured in 15 @ HUBS Immersive by 'De Schaapjesfabriek". Video is currently not available, however the festival aftermovie can be found on Vimeo.

Motions Measured in ...(5) // Quartair, The Hague // 2019

Part of the Creative HUBS Exchange.

In the weeks leading up to the HUBS Immersive Festival 2019, some participating artists were invited to do a preview show of their work, as a public tryout and to give a selected audience a taste of the bigger festival coming up.

During this preview, a modified site-specific iteration of the 'Motions Measured in ...' project was performed with 5 glowing orbs in a new spatial configuration.

Reciprocal Flux // KABK, The Hague // 2019*

A relation between the Controller and the Controlled.

Exploring the performative qualities of introducing a (human) body to an external restraint, as a way of imposing unusual movement, this work focussed on the reciprocality between the performer and the material, physical or imaginary, which introduces the restraint.

Between the performer and material a third entity might be created, one that perhaps would not have emerged from just one of the two. Continuing the notion that the (moving) body is a base reference point to make sense of concepts and the world, I set out to find how we move, and what the qualities of the human body in motion are.

Strain, Exhaustion, Tensility, Form and Plasticity. All of which are potent inspirational pillars for producing creative restraint.

“All human beings need a balance of movement, and need to learn to use space, time and differing qualities in order to redress the imbalances.”

The relation between the controller and the controlled is reciprocal, and as such, a mechanism for creating an “Otherness” in movement

A performance exploring and highlighting the relationship the controller and the controlled, in this case the performer and the material, and how this relationship and restraint can create or impact movement.

*Note: Due to unforseen circumstance and loss of footage, all footage on this project is from tryouts and rehearsals.

Tension Machines II // Zaal 3, The Hague // 2019

'Experiments in Tension Propagation' + 'Script on Tension Propagation'

Minds are 'wired' for expectation. But what kind of tension is created when the flux of events shape the object of expectation?

What happens in the future matters to us. So it should not be surprising that how the future unfolds has a direct effect on how we feel. The mechanisms ofexpectation and the anticipation of what is about to happen, triggers the curiosity of psychologists and cognitive scientists. But it also raises questions that attract the attention of the 'practitioners' of these mechanisms.

It is no coincidence that the performing arts have figured prominently in attempts to understand the dynamics of expectation. Over hundreds of years, poets, actors, comedians, and musicians have developed a whole range of techniques that make use of cognitive systems that manipulate audiences in their anticipation of future events. Tricks that feed peoples tendency to anticipate the next step.

A performance and experimental script on how tension is created, built up and possibly released following physical actions of a performer and/or material. Script and performance both stem from elements found through my experience in Archery.

Motions Measured in 10 // KABK, The Hague // 2018

This work is a continuation on the concept that I started to dive into during the residency in Eindhoven, creating patterns and light and shadowplay in space as a result of connected human movements. In this work I see the orbs as more of a translation of my body into another entity, an Alien entity. In Eindhoven I based the movement of the performance on repetitive motions, such as walking, running, lying or sitting down, touching your own body etc., and the patterns they create. In this work I also revolve my own movement around these commonplace motions, with the addition of a more defined exploration on space, both in my dynamics and exercise, as well as in the mechanism which I will be performing with. The motions I make will also produce a translation into a play of light shadow and reflections onto the surrounding space, the floor, bystanders and structural elements.

In the previous rendition of this work, I operated 5 glowing orbs, in this new work, I explore with 10 orbs. These connected movements will result in new patterns, with the new possibility to be paused in a fixed position. These 10 orbs are spaced out following my bodylength, thus resulting in “Motions Measured in 10”.

Motions Measured in 5 // De Fabriek, Eindhoven // 2018

Part of the 'Noititeper' Residency Exhibition

Repetition can create rhythm or make patterns, enhance skill, use it as a method or to erode. Repetition causes consolidation in the hippocampus, resulting in (stronger) memories. It can provide comfort in the shape of habits or traditions. We are patterns recognition machines, they draw are eye and are aesthetically pleasing to us. Repetition can emphasize or desensitize. It can slowly erode the hardest material. Repetition is needed to master new skills and needed to run/swim/cycle the fastest. With repetition you can both lose or gain meaning. It can be a way to relieve stress or a symptom of it. Evolution is repetition with small but potentially significant changes.

A performance utilising an installation I built as a result of an intense residency at De Fabriek in Eindhoven (NL). It deals with the theme of repetition, repetitive motions (such as walking, running, lying or sitting down, touching your own body etc.) the patterns they create, and what that gives us. I have mechanically connected 5 orbs to my body, one for each limb including my head. the orbs are spaced out according to the length of my body, thus creating "Motions Measured in 5".

Photo's by Jesus Canuto Iglesias

The Fear Project // Zaal 3, The Hague // 2018

Untitled Performance in collaboration with Aisha Pagnes

Fear is the passion of our nature which excites us to provide for our security, on the approach of evil.

Fear is an uneasiness of mind, upon the thought of future evil likely to befall us.
Fear is the mind killer.
Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration.
Fear is total destruction.

The creation of terror requires the absorption of the individual into the story, and a precise manipulation of their senses. It is much easier in film to control what the viewer is seeing but in a theatre - you can look at whatever you like.

A performance in which lights and sound are modulated by the changes of our heart rates.