MIHO SHIMIZU
EN / JPAdventures with kites
Chasing the Shadows
- Homage to Soeung Vannara (2024)
Eyes of the Sky (2022)
Screen (2020)
XHE with Daniel Kok
xhe, photo by Bernie Ng, courtesy of Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay
October 2018, I premiered an immersive performance titled xhe (pronounced like “j’y” in French), in a collaboration with dancer and choreographer Daniel Kok. It is a collision of dance, visual installation and live electronic music, which runs for a duration of 5 hours, and I directed the visuals and produced the soft sculptures which the performer manipulate in the space. This was the result of two and half years of work with Kok, where we undertook several residencies together and work-in-progress showings in both Europe and Asia.
Although we just premiered the piece, it is still very much ongoing project. Through the experiences with the audience in the piece, we are further developing the score.
Concept
Experience a remarkable collision of dance, sculpture and live electronic music with xhe. Unfolding over the length of an evening, this immersive performance envelops the audience in a search for the elusive xhe: a figure that is not “he”, not “she”, nor “it”. Moving within a kaleidoscope of shifting patterns, moving objects, syncretic sounds, uncanny forms and enchanting moments, the artists will create a shared space of imagination and collective daydream in which to summon, receive, discover, and even become xhe.
Created by an international ensemble of artists this entrancing new performance generates a powerful sense of fluidity, carrying us into a realm of new possibilities. Revelling in our potential as humans to continually transform ourselves, xhe moves us to explore a figure in constant flux: between movement and stillness, organic and geometric; something that lies between a square and an octopus.
In 2020, an online version was created using zoom as a platform to connect and interact with the audience.
da:ns festival 2018, Esplanade Annexe Studio, Singapore
October 12, 2018 19:00- 0:00
October 14, 2018 14:00- 19:00
Liveworks Festival of Experimental Art, Carriageworks, Sydney
October 19, 2018 18:30 – 23:30
October 21, 2018 14:00-19:00
CONCEPT & CHOREOGRAPHY: Daniel Kok
VISUAL ART & DESIGN: Miho Shimizu
PERFORMANCE: Daniel Kok, Karol Tyminski, Chloe Chotrani
MUSIC: Filastine & Nova
GRAPHICS & WEB DESIGN: Currency
DRAMATURGY: Lilia Mestre
Co-commissioned by Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay and Performance Space with the Naomi Milgrom Foundation (Australia)
Supported by the National Arts Council (Singapore), The Japan Foundation Asia Center and Kinosaki International Arts Center (Japan)
Two dancers, two live musicians, one host who orchestrate the stage perform in and out of the space.
Sometimes the audience is invited to take part, react, engage, contribute, support. I directed the visuals and created the objects we call soft sculptures, which refers to the image in the set.
This piece was developed over the course of two and a half years, including residencies in Japan and
Singapore as well as work-in-progress showing in Kinosaki, Tokyo, Singapore, Berlin.