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This months cover by Aleksandar Ares,
layout by K.K.W |
"Site": Contemporary dance/performance.
Article & photos by K.K.W
On the one hand two words describe Whitney V Hunters "Site"; action & process. Then again the words struggle, brotherhood, and beautiful art, also comes to mind. Part symbolism, dance performance and what could be considered ritual/spiritual, "Site" is a five man act that draws together varied elements to create a complex visual story.
Set to an amazing score, part collected sounds from field recordings, Orisha music, contemporary blues, Hip-Hop and original text from photographer/visual artist Myron Christian Macauley's book, "Modern Man in Search of Soul", the music creates the perfect back-drop of sound to their stunning performance. Both merge together to transcend the stage and amaze the viewer with something tender, bold, that touches you.
The beginning seems to represent disunity, individuals in a struggle, competing for the microphone, the spot light, without much consideration for each other. As the performance proceeds there's a shift in the energy, the formation stats to change and unity begins to surface. A playfulness emerges not unlike young boys "rough-housing". One part reminded me of Winslow Homer's painting "Snap the whip", as the young men join hands in a line the two on either end hurls those in the middle forward, while still holding on to them.
When the end comes it courses with their vitality, a distinct power due to their greater sense of each other, the ritual that seemed to cleanse the bonds between them uniting their spirits while generating the feel of some lost African American folk tradition remade, through contemporary art.
Whitney V Hunter is a visual/performance artist and curator. "Site" stars Hunter, Otis Donavan Herring, Youthen Joseph, Riccardo Valintine, Andre M Zachary.
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