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"Deceleration (that is, moving at a slower pace) is an important part of it, to be sure, but the crux of Slow research is less about a register of speed than it is about awareness—and especially about the shifts in perception and positioning that can be provoked when we commit to more expansive ways of being in and of the world. That means looking more closely and listening more deeply, noticing fine details and attuning to processes, and at the same time adopting a wider, more holistic view that situates our experiences within larger webs of relations, spaces, and times."
Carolyn F. Strauss, Slow Spatial Research: Chronicles of Radical Affection
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I am an art practitioner with a solid background in literary studies, (dance) dramaturgy, and somatic practices. Since 2017, I have been developing a practice about slowness, nourished by academic as well as embodied research. I create performances—in which I perform alone or with others—and installations that invite alternative ways of relating to time, embodied perception, and procreation. Textile often plays an important role in my projects and the themes of slowness, deep perception, and care have been central to past creations, publications, and collaborations. I usually work in collaboration with artists from other disciplines, and my work has mostly been presented in site specific and visual arts contexts.
My ongoing research and practice build upon my graduate studies in Contemporary Theatre, Dance and Dramaturgy at Utrecht University. My thesis entitled "Aesthetic Boredom: Investigating the Experience of Slow Dance in a Society of Haste" set forth a framework for investigating slowness through the choreographic and performative work of Evelien Cammaert, Stav Yeini, Jeanne Colin, Hana Erdman & Louise Dahl (Stockholm), and Marie Topp (Copenhagen). I develop the concepts of ‘deep perception’ (after Pauline Oliveros’ ‘Deep Listening’) and ‘aesthetic boredom’ to describe how, in an accelerated society, the aesthetic experience of slow choreography can lead to alternative, more resonant, ways of relating to the world.
I implement my in-depth study of slowness in my solo performance Slow Visit (2024) and the durational performance Creatures at rest (2021): a choreographic trio on a round, slowly rotating platform that was presented in the Japanese garden of Ostend (Dansand! Festival), Museum M Leuven (Playground Festival), Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art Porto (Museum as Performance), and Brussels Biennale for Women in Art.
At the invitation of the multidisciplinary research and curatorial platform Slow Research Lab, I contributed to the publication Slow Spatial Reader: Chronicles of Radical Affection with a chapter entitled "Space as Atmosphere: Floating in a Molecular Bath". It was published in June 2021 by Valiz, Amsterdam.
With a research grant from the Flemish Government and in collaboration with space-oriented artist Rita Hoofwijk, I conduct Slow Experiments (2022) in which I explore how to evoke embodied slowness through writing and voice recording.
Touched by how slowness opens to intimacy, I initiated It’s Good to Talk With You, Mother: a participatory research project on slowness, textile crafting, and birth in collaboration with textile artists Berenike Corcuera and Janneke Raaphorst, researcher Malika Eloualy, art embroiderer Soumaya Simari, the Gifted Mothers of Dar Bellarj, and LE18 MARRAKECH with the support of the Flemish Government, Darna: House of Moroccan-Flemish Cultures, and Mondriaan Fund. Emanating from this project, the participatory installation Hi, Mom was presented at the Biennale for Women in Art: A Show of Resistance (Brussels, 2024).
As a dramaturg and (dance) performer, I collaborate with visual and performance artist Evelien Cammaert, choreographers Benjamin Vandewalle, Stav Yeini, Francesca Saraullo, Zoltan Vakulya & Chen-Wei Lee, Jeanne Colin, and circus artist Maria Madeira.
I occasionally teach dramaturgy at École Supérieure des Arts du Cirque (ESAC, Brussels).
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contact:
Brussels
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© Marc Van der Wielen
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