JAMES BATCHELOR
Escapes to the Infinite
Escapes to the Infinite
Performers: James Batchelor, Amber McCartney and Madeline Beckett
Visual Artist: Madeline Beckett
Sound Artist: Morgan Hickinbotham
Escapes to the Infinite examines the process of construction via an assemblage of raw materials with the human body. Sourced from Batchelor’s film studies of construction-sites in Melbourne, Sydney and Bangkok, he has developed a choreography that manipulates and abstracts the movements of construction workers. In tandem with this movement study, is a live and methodical construction process of a morphing sculpture using sixty-four cinder blocks. The two live processes form a rhythmic dialogue and a dynamic interplay
of body and structure, a momentary unity in the eternal flux. The work references Thomas Ernest Hulme’s idea that the world is a plurality and that the idea of ‘unity’ is manufactured. This work explores that idea in reference to the construction worker, investigating the unity he strives to create and the pure physicality inherent in that task.
JAMES BATCHELOR is a performer, choreographer and installation artist from Canberra. His choreographic practice hybridises performance and visual arts to create dynamic and multisensory environments. His work has been developed and presented in Australia, France, Thailand and the United Kingdom. He is the 2014 Dancehouse Housemate and recently presented his new performance installation work ISLAND in Canberra and Melbourne. As a performer he has worked with choreographers such as Stephanie Lake (Aorta, Chunky Move), Antony Hamilton (Black Project 2) and Sue Healey (Inevitable Scenarios).
Dancehouse, Melbourne - July 2014 - all rights reserved
Documentation by Cobie Orger.