For his third solo exhibition at Kate MacGarry, Marcus Coates presents his film, A Question of Movement, made with dancer Henry Montes and commissioned by Siobhan Davies Dance.
Throughout much of his practice, Coates has sought alternative ways in which to approach and understand the questions we most struggle to resolve. A Question of Movement, as with past projects such as Vision Quest, The Trip, and most recently during his residency at The Barbican Centre, explores the role of the artist as a problem solver. This time, Coates examines the potential functionality of contemporary dance in order to articulate unconscious reasoning. We wanted to ‘test’ contemporary dance, Coates says. Traditional and folk dances all come from functional sources – to attract a mate, prepare for war or for fertility rites – and we wanted to tap into what performance can be in our society today.
To this end, Coates and Montes interviewed members of the public, in their homes or at work, asking them to pose a question, which, up until that point, had been unsolvable. Coates responds to each question with immediate and unconscious movements, at once comical and poignant. He twists, bends, jumps and even stands on his head as a means by which to channel information into a solution or answer. Despite the fact the ‘dances’ are subjective and abstract, the question-giver delivers their evaluation with great sincerity and thought.
A Question of Movement, 2011, digital HD video,1920 × 1080, 16:9, 34:23 min
Commissioned by Siobhan Davies Dance, London. Participants: Armajit Kochhar, Joseph Bradley, Zoe Sharman, Rose Wheatland, Harvey Rendell, John McIntyre. Camera by Deborah May and Abi Oseni. Sound by John Avery. Edited by Deborah May.
