Constantinople Kaleidoscope_Photo by Gabrielle Fonseca Johnson, Tate 2012
Constantinople Kaleidoscope (2012)
Constantinople Kaleidoscope is a work by visual artist Pablo Bronstein, with choreography by Matthias Sperling.
Bronstein was commissioned by Tate Modern to create a work for Performance Room, a series in which artists are invited to stage a live performance for a web-only audience. The performance takes place in the Performance Room at Tate Modern and is viewed exclusively through video, streamed live via Youtube. The resulting video is archived and remains available to view online after the event.
For Constantinople Kaleidoscope, Bronstein conceived a baroque trompe l'oeil stage set that exaggerates the perspective of the room with mirrored columns. A group of dancers glides and rotates the mirrored columns around the room in precise configurations, creating complex reflections-of-reflections within which Bronstein appears, dancing in outlandish Ottoman-esque costume. Sperling is seen seated behind the camera alongside the camera operator, from where his voice is heard cueing and directing the choreography.
Prior to this collaboration, Sperling also worked with Bronstein on his performances Luggage Ballet (2010), Plaza Minuet (2011) and The Birth of Venus (2011), and Bronstein's video work Origin of Sprezzaturra (2010).
Artist: Pablo Bronstein
Performed by: Pablo Bronstein with Luke Birch, Martin Collins, Erik Nevin, Rosalie Wahlfrid
Choreographer: Matthias Sperling
Costume design: Clea Broad
Curators: Catherine Wood and Kathy Noble
Commissioned by BMW Tate Live
Live-streamed from Tate Modern on April 26, 2012.
Related:
Watch video documentation of Constantinople Kaleidescope LINK
Listen to Matthias Sperling and Pablo Bronstein in conversation at Siobhan Davies Studios (scroll down to Crossing Borders 2012) LINK