William Forsythe. Nowhere and Everywhere at the Same Time
On the photo you can see a lot of pendulums hanging from the top almost to the floor and in the middle of them a figure dances, dressed all in black, the head of the person is outside the picture.
1st July – 6th August 2023

William Forsythe (*1949, New York) has been active in the field of choreography for over 50 years. His work is acknowledged for reorienting the practice of ballet from its identification with classical repertoire to a dynamic 21st century art form.

In the context of the transfer of the William Forsythe Archive to ZKM, »Nowhere and Everywhere at the Same Time, No.2«, will be shown in one of the atria of ZKM. This installation preserves and privileges two central interests in Forsythe's work: Counterpoint and unconscious choreographic competence induced by choreographic situations. Suspended from automated grids, hundreds of pendulums are activated to initiate a sweeping eleven-part counterpoint of tempi, spatial juxtaposition, and gradients of centrifugal force, offering the spectator a constantly morphing labyrinth of significant complexity.

The spectators are free to attempt navigation in this statistically unpredictable environment, but are requested to avoid coming in contact with any of the swinging pendulums. This task, which automatically initiates and alerts the spectator’s innate predictive faculties, produces a lively choreography of manifold and intricate avoidance strategies.

Credits
Exhibitions team

Curatorial Project Management: Nina Liechti, Beatrice Zaidenberg
Technical Project Management: Felix Pausch
Scenography: Matthias Gommel
Activation Program: Lisa Bartling, Janine BurgerAlexandra Hermann, Jael Talita Krämer
Archive: Felix Mittelberger, Angus Macdonald
AV service: Andreas Brehmer
Producer: Julian Gabriel Richter
Technical Director: Max Schubert
Technics: Martin Weinheimer
Programming: Sven Thöne
Technical Consultant: Niels Lanz

 

The development, as well as the national and international exhibitions of William Forsythe’s Choreographic Objects are made possible with the generous support of Susanne Klatten.