William Forsythe: Choreographic Objects at the ICA

My one and only goal for vacation week was going to the ICA to check out the William Forsythe exhibit.  Forsythe is a world renowned choreographer and exhibit is super interactive.  I had heard great things about it and I knew if we didn't go over vacation we probably wouldn't make it over to the ICA before the exhibit ends in February.  (Note~ most days require a timed ticket for the exhibit that you can only get in person.  This isn't as big a hassle as it sounds so don't let that stop you.  There's a nice coffee shop nearby if you had to kill some time but we went on a Saturday around around 12:30 and there was no wait to get a ticket so I don't think it's a problem.)  We opted for a 2:00 pm ticket and grabbed lunch (Wagamama Waterfront for the win) and explored the main gallery before entering the exhibit.

 

 

The exhibit is based on the idea that movement is art.  As you interact with the installations you create the art with your body.  The art is always changing based on how you and the people around you move.  It's a great concept and the dancer in me loved the focus on movement as a creative experience.

The first room in the exhibit is the mirror room, and my favorite of all of the rooms.  I don't know how these mirrors worked but I could have spent hours in front of them creating swirly whirly versions of myself.  It was so fun to see what you were creating, but also what the other people were creating.

The next room we visited was an instructional room with chalkboards filled with instructions for creating movements.  Although they were direction based each person would come up with their own version of the movements.  It was kind of funny to hear people saying point and line and up and down while hopping, balancing, and walking backwards.

We then entered the crawl space.  Who knew crawling could be so fun?  It's literally a low wall with a crawl space that you are instructed to move through in any way that works for you (there is a way to walk around without crawling of that's not your thing, but crawling was actually super fun.)  My initial instinct was to crawl backwards but then I saw people spinning, crawling on their bellies, and rolling.  (Everyone was also really happy, like giddy with excitement with the freedom of crawling on the floor as an adult.) 

From there we went to was the pendulum room.  There are tons of pendulums suspended from the air and the idea is that you move amongst them without touching them.  The way they sway almost gives your body a rhythm as you move.  I had fun dancing through them, while others were skipping, running, and shuffling through them.  It was kind of mesmerizing.  I lost the feeling of being in a big room and instead was very focused on the space around me.  I almost felt like it was just me.

Our last stop was the ring room.  This room was probably the most popular and we had to wait in line to experience it.  Waiting wasn't bad since it let you see the art being created by the people in the rings.  It's funny.  At first I was seeing the rings as an athletic challenge and it's important to remind yourself that it is not about athletics.  This isn't Ninja Warrior.  This is about making art with your movement.  The rings allow you to move like a dancer, if you chose to, and fly suspended off the ground in really neat positions of your own making.  I kind of wish I had a second chance at the rings to focus more on the movements I was creating, and less on moving like an athlete.

We stopped back in the mirror room before leaving the exhibit because it was so fun!

I highly recommend this exhibit.  It was so much fun!  It was like an adult playground.  Remember when you were little and you would just run around, twirl around, skip, jump, and hop without a care in the world.  This space gave you that freedom and reminded you just how fun it is to move your body!