The QM Centre for Creative Collaboration brought artist Karen Christopher together with Dr. Chema Martin-Duran, Senior Lecturer in Organismal Biology, and Professor Christophe Eizaguirre, Professor of Evolutionary and Conservation Genetics at Queen Mary to inform the development of a new performance piece exploring the movement of time in the deep sea via conversation, connectedness, durational work and song-like structures.
The early stages of developing Skywater, Facewater, Underwater Waltz have been built on an underwater flow, various currents that flow past each other in different directions the way shoals of fish do. Karen and performance collaborators Tara Fatehi and Jemima Yong have worked with blending and combining, dissolving outlines, while looking into the deep sea to see what they find.
"We have looked for simultaneous durations and song-like structures. We have asked: who says time moves in only one direction? We hope this project will speak to a tolerance of difference around our sensibilities and how to be in the world right now, while sharing a desire for connectedness."— Karen Christopher - Performance artist
Though a 5-day creative residency in the BLOC media research facility in Arts One during April 2024, new relationships and related research/thinking were formed with faculty members in QM’s School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences and a presentation of some early material from the project was shown at QM’s Peopling the Palaces festival in June 2024.
Dr. Chema Martin-Duran’s expertise in marine biology provided invaluable insights into the marine ecosystems and life forms. His research on the evolutionary biology of marine organisms helped the team understand the complex interactions of species and their environments, which informed the narrative's portrayal of a specifically marine oriented sense of time and scale. This in turn influenced how the team connected with activating representations of underwater currents and shoals of fish.
Professor Christophe Eizaguirre’s work in evolutionary and conservation genetics offered a profound understanding of the genetic diversity and adaptability of marine species. His insights into how organisms evolve and interact within their habitats added a layer of scientific authenticity to the project, allowing the team to think about themes of time, movement, and interconnectedness with greater depth.
This project was supported by Queen Mary University Centre for Creative Collaboration and Arnolfini (Bristol), and will be completed in 2025. Omikemi contributed to the early stage of this project's development.
To read more about this project, visit https://karenchristopher.co.uk and https://karenchristopher.co.uk/the-awkward-ways-of-going-forward/