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Weigh/Weight is an interactive installation and performance by Thursday Afternoon Lab that delves into our kinetic-affective relationship with weight and gravity. Utilizing water balloons weighing approximately the average weight of body parts, as well as bean bags on the floor, the piece invites participants to engage with the concept of weight in an experiential manner. By challenging the rigid logic in conventional understandings of weight, the performance aims to explore new possibilities and foster a deeper connection between participants and their surroundings. Disrupting the traditional spectator-performer relationship, it encourages a more immersive and transformative experience of kinetic and affective interactions. This improv-based work has made its distinct presentation site-specifically at Danish Culture Center and Yuan Art Museum.
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Do thoughts have weight?
Do colors have weight?
Do feelings have weight?
...
The shape of weight,
the sensation of weight,
the weight of thoughts,
the balance of weight,
bodily attitude towards weight,
the body's responses to weight,
questioning and answering weight,
the logic of flowing weight (both physical and psychological),
the flow of weight logic,
seen and unseen weight,
invisible weight,
how weight is expressed,
how it is interpreted,
the weight to hold and the weight not to hold,
misread weight,
disappearing weight,
unheard weight,
excess weight,
the temporality of weight,
remaining weight,
speculation and practice of “gravity”,
the unity and differences between the weight in consciousness and the physical reality of weight,
gravity fantasies,
the confrontation of weight,
following weight,
the color of weight,
the shape of weight,
what deforms, what disappears?
where does the weight flow?
...
Our brain weighs an average of 1500 grams,
the liver 1560 grams,
the tongue 65 grams,
the skin—our largest organ—4535 grams,
our heart is similar in weight to a red squirrel,
and our head is about the weight of a bowling ball.
What does the weight of a person's body signify?
Besides the number displayed on a weight scale, can we open up more dimensions of understanding? The TALab group hopes to share with the audience their exploration of weight from the perspective of bodily perception. They invite the audience to feel the flow of bodily weight in a realm full of colors or to sense the weight of colors in the flow of the body, constantly rearranging attention and exploring their own viewing paths.
--excerpt from the performance intro
Photo: Xiaocao Li02
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Photo: Manuel Molina Martagon
As co-director and performer.
In response to the imminent threat of radioactive waste being dumped into the Hudson River, Even a River Can Die of Thirst (2023) embarked on a durational journey, which took Zhangxinan Wu, Julia Murat and the group across lower Manhattan, carrying a bottle of water collected from the very source of our concern. Utilizing improvisation as our expressive form, we passed the water between us as we traversed the cityscape, symbolizing both the delicate nature and vital importance of this life-giving resource. The culmination of our movement was reaching the East River, where we paused to contemplate the questions of privatization, overconsumption, as well as the intricate interplay between urban landscapes and the interconnectedness of natural ecosystems.
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“On February 2nd, Holtec International announced plans to dump a million gallons of radioactive waste into the Hudson River. Although they have suspended this plan due to public outcry, the company may nevertheless choose to proceed. Indeed, it is within their legal rights to do so. Yet just because this practice is legal does not mean we must accept it.
For this reason, we have decided to join hundreds of thousands of New York residents who are taking action to defend the Hudson. Our proposal today is to recover some of the Hudson’s water, flow it through Manhattan, and, to protect it from future contamination, release it into the East River. We know that this performance is going to fail. The East River, too, bears the legacy of industrial pollution, and, in the end, spilling a million gallons of radioactive waste into one river means dumping it into all rivers because they are all, in one way or another, connected. To pollute one river is to pollute them all.
That is why poet Natalie Díaz believes that rivers can die of thirst. The waters they pour into each other carry the damages of contamination, over-consumption, and privatization. Yet, we feel, as Díaz does, that “Only water can change water.” Only water can “heal itself.” So, in this cup, we mix water from the Hudson with the waters we bring within us: waters from Beirut, Jerusalem, Bogotá, Rio, Minnesota, Wrocław, Shivamogga, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Beijing, Guatemala City, and Riachos. The water in this cup is not lonely; this water is not going to die of thirst.
We invite you to bring your waters and join us on our journey.
-by Alissa, Amany, An, Camila, Juan, Julia, Juliana,
Kylie, Leonor, Michelle, Nour, Pannaga, Spenser
Water
Whater
Whather
What Her
What Her?
Whatever
Whether
Weather
With Her
Wither (without water)
Wider
Wilder
Wild-Her”
--excerpt from the performance intro
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A Seed 《一颗种子》 (2023), Xiaoye Space, Beijing
A Seed (2023) is a series of improvised-based performance, as an open-studio sharing of a facet of the process-oriented practices of Thursday Afternoon Lab (see bio for more info of the group). Drawing cards as prompts from American improv musician Mike Vargas’ “86 Aspects of Compositions”, the performance comprises of a set of solos, duets and trios that demonstrate how TALab develops and transforms serendipitous seeds during live performances, as well as the process of dramaturgical discussion which help the group member clarify and elaborate their inner motivations.
Photo: Qirong Tan04
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Untitled (2021), Beijing, Photo: ChenchenA site-specific, pop-up performance in a public park, pushing against the boundary one’s kinesphere and public spaces, as well as that between spontaneity and order, weaving a narrative that dances on the edge of unpredictability. Within this process, ordinary, everyday objects take on new meaning as they are repurposed and incorporated into the artistic expression. The transformation of commonplace items mirrors the fluidity of the human experience, illustrating the metamorphosis of the familiar through different lenses.
