Liminality
Sun 7 Apr, Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff
The concept of liminality is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as ‘relating to a transitional or initial stage of a process’, whilst that very well-known online encyclopaedia draws attention to its origins in the discipline of anthropology, where it is used to describe the ‘ambiguity or disorientation that occurs in the middle stage of a rite of passage’ – the Latin word root līmen literally means ‘threshold’. Or, in the words of Matt Wright – who is one half of the directing duo at Cardiff-based creative studio 4pi Productions – liminality is the process of moving ‘from one state of mind to another’.
Fusing contemporary dance, 360° projections, and live electronica sound-scaping, 4pi Productions’ Liminality: Live certainly has no qualms about melding both traditional and ground-breaking art forms to create an altogether unheralded immersive experience. Growing out of an initial 10-minute piece of 360° film-making as part of the 2017 UK-India Year of Culture, 4pi Productions have since worked with the renowned Montreal-based Société des Arts Technologiques to further develop their ideas into an expansive and multi-disciplinary project.
The staging of Liminality: Live as part of Ffotogallery’s Diffusion Festival 2019: Sound + Vision was the first time this piece has been performed in the UK, and debuted alongside another specially commissioned piece, Juniper, which featured a live jazz band performing beneath the recently custom-made 12-metre wide CULTVR Dome earlier in the week. With it all taking place in the usually non-descript Rehearsal Room 3 at the Wales Millennium Centre, 4pi Productions transformed the space into an intimate and atmospheric portal into other more mysterious realms, suspending the Dome above a small central performance space surrounded by recliners and floor cushions. Lying back on these, the audience could simultaneously gaze upwards into the 360° projections, as well as absorbing the live performances unfolding on the floor in front of them.
In the case of Liminality: Live, the film features the powerfully contrasting cultural landscapes of Wales and India, linked together by a fluid cast of dancers performing in a range of locations, from cityscape to jungles to the sea. Cast against soundscapes that morphed from industrial to cosmic, two dancers – one from Wales and one from India – moved alone, together, and at times in synchronisation with their choreography on the Dome, creating a free-flowing and mesmeric ritual that reflected both the diversity and connection between their homes.
On the one hand, the Liminality of the title could refer to this particular exploration, of the continuously evolving relationship between a vast rising India and the often-forgotten lands of a ‘less-global’ Wales. Yet in a sense, this ‘liminality’ could also refer to the mode through which this story is presented – by taking ancient forms such as the ripple and rhythm of the human physique, and blending it with the contemporary aspects of 360° film-making and Dome projections, Liminality: Live stands at the threshold of an exciting new platform in the world of audience-immersive art.
Words Dafydd Haine
Diffusion 2019 – Sound + Vision runs until Tue 30 Apr. Info here