dance piece
An interactive installation/performance experiment brought to you by a previously unknown organisation.
Dear _____________, Do you have 5 minutes to fill out this short survey? The Bureau of Emotive Statistics (BES) is a faceless government body that wants to check in with you, and ask Are you okay? How are you feeling today? They are offering their sincerest care, with Regards, or rather, their Warm regards. Participants are invited to respond by way of multiple choice, tick boxes, and other formats they are likely (or perhaps highly likely) to be well-acquainted with.
Where the survey departs from most is the odd set of movements it will prompt you to perform along the way, should you abide by its authoritative voice. In this way, you might become an accidental performer of a strange, bureaucratically dictated dance. Upon its completion you will receive a certified certificate, though note the terms and conditions which detail that it may have no real world value or outcomes. Should you choose to go through its motions, thank you for participating in the Emotionally Available Survey.
Findings from 101 survey participants/gallery visitors/accidental performers are available in The Bureau of Emotive Statistics EOCY (End of Crynancial Year) Report 2022-2023.
“Morita’s work… posits an experiment, a movement provocation, to puncture through that detachment, twisting the logic of the survey format to disturb the layer of bureaucratic dust. This dust is quite literally shaken off in our bodily reactions to the form’s curious set of instructions. The form slides out of the screen onto the floor and walls of the gallery, becoming spatial. Your body moves in direct response to the questions and prompts the survey creates.” —Ada Coxall, curator
Shown as part of ‘Labour Lexica’ exhibition at Linden Projects Space, Linden New Art.
November 17 - December 18 2022
Exhibition info
Read the catalogue
ARTISTS: Maki Morita, Luce Nguyễn-Hunt, Lachlan Marley
CURATORS: Coral Guan, Ada Coxall, Sebastian Kainey
