the word “c l o u d”
my body spreads
space invading cells
vertigo
i am
no more
but nebula
My creative process –
- fragmentation,
- reconstruction,
- transformation,
- connection to the world through becoming-other and embodied images
is for me a mirror of the physics principles that makes myself and what I encounter happen.
This process permeates everything I create.
In this blog, I will share art pieces other than my movement practice: from drawing to poetry, collage to photo montage, film and painting… different forms all resonating together.
Through all these different mediums, you can follow the thread of “otherness as part of self”.
Maelstrom collage by Genevieve Johnson
Made of the Same Atoms
Our body is made of the same atoms as the rest of the universe.
Everything is made of the same fragments assembled in different ways. These different assemblies create different structures, expressing themselves in a variety of forms.
These basic building blocks link us with the world.
We are not just part of nature: we are nature, we are our environment.
(Crossing by Genevieve Johnson)
Atoms are continuously moving, dancing, exchanging with the world.
Take our breathing: atoms of oxygen come in, atoms of carbon dioxide go out…
Our whole body is in this state of exchanging with the world: going through the world and the world going through our body. Regenerating.
Everything Decays and Regenerates
Life is a continuous cycle of decay and renewal…
Every minute of the day, and all through our life, the human body is in this cycle. Cells of our body die as new ones are created. The oldest organ in our body is our heart and it is never older then 7 years-old.
We are in a constant fragmentation/reconstruction mode.
We transform ourself every day.
(Dancing Kimono by Genevieve Johnson)
This happens on a figurative level as well:
When hitting an obstacle, we rebuilding ourselves from a different point of view, through reorganizing our inner images, our landscape under the skin.
(Scar Study by Genevieve Johnson)
Creative processes in art are similar to this life cycle:
- a perpetual fragmentation towards different reconstructions
- allowing transformation
- connecting us to our deep self (with imperfections and scars), to our environment and others.
Faune (above) and Bird (below) photos by Dirk Heydemann, concept Genevieve Johnson – inspired by The Sun and The Moon, dance piece by Holly Bright
Knowing that my process is embedded in this cycle brings me clam and hope in the ebb and flow of the coming back of life after a long winter or a dry creative patch…
Making the Invisible Visible
These similarities between myself and the universe around me
- in the substance of our fabrics,
- in our transformation processes,
- in how we connect and exchange
are what interest me the most.
(Nests by Genevieve Johnson)
It transpires in every aspect of my creations…
The porosity of our body and the world around us – how they traverse each other and imprint in one another – informs my exploration of the body, my investigation of its deep layers of mystery.
Life is change. Change is movement. Life is in the dance of the cells, dance of the hands, of the thread, of the mind wondering in memories… embodied memories of our encounters with the world, elements going through us, us going through them…
Our body as myriads of connections, myriads of connective paths, like myriads of threads interweaving with their surrounding. As if to mend, repair, cure, rewrite, the fabric of our relationship to the world, to the environment, to others, to the universe. To reunite with the difference, the different.
To connect with the presence of nature, being part of nature, being nature…
We are nature: Hydrogen, Carbon, Oxygen… consistently reconnecting.
We are a process. Forever transitioning. In an impermanent state of becoming. Body and environment dynamically changing through their constant state of decay and renewal… together.
Otherness as part of self.
(text for film Impermanence – 5 minutes version – by Genevieve Johnson)
(The Tree’s Memory by Genevieve Johnson)
Exercise
Create a simple visual art installation – Mixing natural and man-made material
Explore moving in it OR Make a photo series of it OR Make a short film from it OR Make a drawing/ painting inspired by it OR Write a poem (or series of words) influenced by it…
Watch the video below as an example of exploration:
- I created an installation,
- moved in it
- and created a short film.
l’ourlet du crépuscule
fane mon corps
immobile
la bouche de l’os
vomit les nids de chenilles
jusqu’au refoulement de l’aube