Devised by
James Batchelor
Performed by
James Batchelor and Madeline Beckett
National
Portrait Gallery 5th& 6th November 2016
Reviewed by
Bill Stephens
 |
| "Smooth Translation" Madeline Beckett (l) - James Batchelor (c) Photo: Jane Duong |
James
Batchelor’s latest work, “Smooth Translation” was devised as an ode to British sculptor,
Barbara Hepworth, and commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery as part of
the Design Canberra Festival. It’s a fascinating and intriguing work from a
young choreographer who is fast building an International reputation for his
highly intellectual, often site-specific, creations.
Batchelor’s program
notes describe “Smooth Translation” as “a process of receiving and transmitting
form. The work examines carving as an entry point to the interiority of matter
- a choreography of sculpting, building and
forming a landscape; a moment of translation from one body to another”.
The
individual viewer will make of that explanation what they will, for, as with
most of Bachelor’s work, that is part of the fascination.
“Smooth
Translation” begins with the tantalising sounds of Bellini, Verdi and Puccini wafting
through Gordon Darling Hall. In one corner is a pile of large cloth beanbags.
Slowing a hand appears from within the bags, and then another, until eventually,
two bodies emerge.
Batchelor and his collaborator, Madeline
Beckett, proceed to attach the tiny sound-sources to their bodies, and then
crawl around and through the beanbags, re-arranging them constantly. Then, as
if in deep contemplation, they each select a large beanbag, lay back in it, and
slowly and deliberately propel themselves, in different directions, around the
smooth granite floor.
Abandoning
the beanbags they each extend arms, perhaps measuring spaces, then connect from
either sides of the marble pillars, occasionally trapping unwary audience
members in their sequences. An episode in which Batchelor moves across the
floor creating grotesque and beautiful shapes with his body is particularly
absorbing.
The
relentless pacing of the work, together with the confident demeanour of the two
performers, often mirroring each other’s movements with remarkable accuracy, tantalises
individual audience members to seek their own answers to the abstractions being
performed.
Their final
sequence involved Batchelor and Beckett ceremoniously pouring four piles of
black stones onto clear plastic sheeting rolled out across the performing area.
Lying on their chests, they slowly propelled themselves through the stones,
neatly returning the work to where it had begun, in the centre of the stones.
This is a
clever and beautifully resolved work, which hopefully will travel beyond the
National Portrait Gallery. If it comes your way, don’t miss it.
This review also appears in Australian Arts Review. www.artsreview.com.au
.