This project, at first glance, may make you think, “WTF?!”. EXACTLY. Kelly’s thoughts exactly. But more like, “WTF?! WHERE’S THE FUN?!”. As she goes into unexpected & everyday spaces dancing, etc., it is just a continuation of the questions she’s always been provoking in her work. What are we all doing?! Why are we getting up in the morning? And with that, Where’s the stoke? The light? the fire? the juice? The chutzspah? The viva la vida? Did we forget it somewhere along the way? Maybe not, but if so, maybe we need a little reminder that we have a pulse. A slight injection of “movement” & subtle, but harmless risk-taking to help us remember what is already so prevalent in our bones & our breath: Our Energy. Feeling. Life. Inspiration. Vision. Passion. Zest. Connection. From the most true place within us. All of us.
It’s a suggestion, a dare, a homeopathic sound-byte to Rekindle. Revive. Reawaken.
It’s less of another alarm buzzing, & more of a “Chinese fire drill”; a bucket of cold water on the head…To remember, What motivates you? Excites you? & not in a “superficial”, sterile, or simply “playful of fun” way either. I’m talking from the GUT. Strip away the “everyday”…the learned (yet often meaningless) routines, the “to-do’s”, the 401K’s. What is your song? What is your dance? Do you remember?
This concept all started when she stumbled on a dance video about movement. She so resonated with everything the DJ was saying, & felt like it could’ve been her talking. When she enthusiastically shared the video with her friend, her friend exclaimed, “This is your medium! The dance with the beats with the words! You already have content: all the blogs you’ve written in the past, etc.”. When Kelly “tried it on for size” & read & recorded one of her blogs, she saw the words quickly transform into poetry + another dimension. This excited her. She then filmed herself dancing in her living room, threw it onto iMovie (which she’d never used), fumbled around with some spontaneous edits, & threw some beats into the background. She loved it! It quite “hit her like a brick”, & it made her feel that this medium gave her so much liberty! She didn’t have to wait around for models or sites or…She could just GO DO all the hundreds of “installation-like, flash-mobby” things she was “fantasizing’ about” for Years, in a charrette-format (which she Loves) through Dance (her possible Biggest love in life?!). WATCH THIS SPACE!
To note: Kelly’s friend Koleka Sofuthe is her partner in crime on the shoots as chief videographer, creative assistant, p/t model, dancer, & xhosa-speaking translator.
Contemporary Artist: Kelly Wainwright 