slowth (habitats) (yet)

2023
performance/installation

slowth (habitats) (yet) takes the symbiotic relationship between sloths, sloth moths and the algae Trichophilus welckeri as a point of departure. It weaves together the contacts between the body, voice, electronic frequencies, ‘banner-habitats’, text, remnants of discarded electrical and electronic parts, encountered locations, garment entangled with photosynthetic microorganisms including algae and cyanobacteria. The process of and the approach within the work are guided by Korean shamanist/animist thoughts and practices, and questions on capitalist acceleration and growth. slowth (habitats) (yet) thickens and decomposes, always in relation to the multiplicity of beings and their rhythms that it encounters. It is a habitat that is always becoming, slowly. A constellation of beings, energies and temporalities that may evade being fixed, captured and harnessed. Who might be these beings, energies and temporalities? How to imagine symbiotic tenderness beyond, but also underneath and in-between, capitalist time and speed?

Collaborators
Live soundscape: Giuseppe Termine
Photosynthetic coating for garment and textile: Post Carbon Lab
Performance: photosynthetic microorganisms

slowth (habitats) (yet) was supported by Live Works Vol. 10 fellowship at Centrale Fies, Dro, Italy and Seeding Space residency at London Performance Studios, London, UK.

 

Each iteration, or ‘habitat’, is dependent on encounters. It embraces layers and traces. In LIVE WORKS Vol. 10 at Centrale Fies in Dro, Italy, slowth (habitats) (yet) took place over the course of two days. After the initial performance, a ‘habitat’ was created from the interactions that unfolded. This ‘habitat’ was open to the audience before the following performance, which took place within the ‘habitat’ that is there already.

(yet) as a temporality pointing towards a futurity that is embedded in presentness and pastness. The etymologies of ‘yet’ include: ever, now, already, long time, towards, at last; to flow, pour, scatter, shed, cast.

The live soundscape of slowth (habitats) (yet) unfolds in close collaboration with artist Giuseppe Termine. Layers of voice, percussion and sounds from contact come together through the improvisational and relational qualities of his live sounds. The collaboration is a process of organic and mutual exchange where movement, sound and energy keep permeating and being permeated by one another.

설쇠 (seol-soe) is a brass and wooden percussion instrument played in shamanist rituals in Jeju, a volcanic island in the south of Korea. In the rituals, percussions are considered as instruments for getting closer to spirits, deities and ancestors. The rocky land in Jeju made it difficult for the inhabitants of the island to grow crops such as rice, and many also relied on fishing. 설쇠 has an improvised appearance with its brass bowl resembling a rice bowl turned upside down, atop a sieve-like, round wooden structure with a resilient netting that creates an extra resonance. It is possibly an instrument born out of less-than-ideal conditions but one that simultaneously points towards abundance.

The photosynthetic garment and textile piece for slowth (habitats) (yet) is made in collaboration with the transdisciplinary design research studio Post Carbon Lab. Their photosynthetic coating is a living layer of photosynthetic microorganisms that are grown into and entangled with the textile. The garment and textile piece absorb carbon dioxide and produce oxygen. The microbes include algae local to London and cyanobacteria among others. The process is a long-term, nurturing cultivation and the finished pieces also require long-term care and engagement, such as providing the right humidity, light and temperature. Through this long-term collaboration, the work also contributes to Post Carbon Lab’s research in sustainability and microbial materials.

Photo
1, 2, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 by Andrea Nicotra
3, 5, 6 by Alessandro Sala