Collective Bisoku- Mildura

 

A performance by the xs collective alongside members of the community, facilitated by Rachel Kendrigan.

Collective Bisoku creates a dialogue around the accelerated, technological, and excessive world we live in. The performance itself has no destination, no end point, but instead generates a collective energy that is an ongoing undulation of ideas.

The community performance project questions our everyday experience of time. Are we living a unified experience or separate timelines? Is time passing or are we passing? Living in this present moment, do the past and future exist?

It also considers our human relationship with our environment; consisting of our notions of space, our innate union with nature and connections with our fellow living beings.

Questioning and challenge our perception of ‘self’ and ‘others’ this work invites you not just to observe, but to allow it to inspire you to participate in re-establishing a sense of wonder in the everyday.

Top image: Daniel Burton

Event images: Gary Kendrigan

Collective Bisoku Mildura was presented as part of the Mildura Palimpsest Biennale #10 with participants from the xs collective and the community of Mildura. We worked together over a seven week period engaging in activities and reading in the lead up to a group performance in the Langtree Mall Mildura. We kept in touch via discussion on a private blog. Following are some comments from participants from throughout the project.

‘As I ambled along, the rocking motion soothed me and I let my mind wander. It gave me a chance to centre myself, take a slow breath and reflect on where I was at this exact moment. Not geographically, but where I was in my life’s journey. I looked more forward than I did behind and contemplated what my next steps would be.’

‘ I became very aware of things passing along beside me, and the shifting of the sun in my eyes. It almost felt like I was watching a scene from a movie, slow motion and slightly out of focus.’

‘It made me realise just how much our eyes are constantly scanning our surroundings.  I like the way these exercises are bringing even more attention and focus to my surroundings and environment.’

‘We go through stages where we allow ourselves to get lost in the midst of work and chores, so it’s important to touch base on these other levels of awareness that you speak of… I’m really looking forward to this performance, I think it is something that I most certainly need. ‘

‘We have become so divorced from our natural selves, so attuned to our technologically fabricated world of time-economy speed, data distraction, multi-tasking and excessive consumption that we have become highly stressed organisms. We need to rethink our life-style: politically, economically, socially and personally. We really should be driven less by unsustainable political models, unsustainable economics and over consumption and SLOW everything down to more naturally manageable time frames. Slow food, slow life.’

‘ I liked the reading about our impact, or not, on land… What is my footprint on stones where people have walked for centuries? ‘

‘It was hard to focus in and slow down at first, but once I imagined the gentle hand of my mother on my shoulder, my senses slowed down and I could hear sounds and see things I haven’t for many years.’

‘I forget how beneficial it is to take time to breathe and look at your surroundings. Spring is my favourite time of year, so I love the smell in the air and looking at the blossoms. I tend to take a lot of notice of the world around me when walking.’

‘I was surprised to feel the coolness, the softness, the ripples of the clover under my
barefeet. I felt as if I was floating on a carpet of clover.

‘Taking in your surroundings and noticing things we would otherwise drive by in haste to get from Point A to Point B…. I hear the magpies song, the rustle of the wind in the trees, the smell of the fresh air. The cat’s meow from the roof and the dog’s bark in response.’

‘Thank you for the opportunity to participate in your project! I found the activities each week to be thought provoking and insightful, calming and relaxing. I found myself looking forward to each week’s new activity/challenge! The performance was like nothing I’ve experienced before! It was good to finally meet with others who have participated in the project. I would definitely recommend this project to others. Thanks for once again taking me out of my comfort zone! ‘

‘Collective energy – collective everything – is the way of the future.’

 

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