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SunCTM 2020 launches with a two-night showing of "Frontera" at the Hebbel am Ufer (HAU1) theatre. In an era of aggressive nationalism and corporate mass surveillance, the human body has never been rendered so visible. Subjected to increasingly invasive forms of industrial-scale oversight and processing, bodies are perpetually monitored, defined, and captured. In “Frontera,” by Animals of Distinction with choreography by Dana Gingras, nine dancers navigate spaces of inclusion and exclusion—their bodies mapped in high resolution, their destinies unresolved. “Frontera” considers surveillance technologies and the advancing frontiers of knowledge and control that they represent. As borders organise and orchestrate the passage of bodies through the world, and as public and private realms are obscured by monitoring technologies, what space remains for the unruly, ungovernable body? Featuring light-based scenography by United Visual Artists (UVA), live music by Fly Pan Am, and field recordings by Godspeed You! Black Emperor’s Dave Bryant, "Frontera" offers a dynamic commentary on our messy entanglements with corporate technologies and the complexities of our present moment.
Jasmine Guffond presents work from her forthcoming record, Microphone Permission, due out next year via Editions Mego. Continuing her explorations of data sonification and surveillance, Microphone Permission refers to the consent supposedly given by smart device users when installing various apps, inspired by a 2018 scandal in which fans of Spain’s most popular soccer team were, effectively, turned into unwitting spies. Listeners are invited to collectively consider the implications of algorithmic, invasive, and computational listening practices. Guffond is accompanied by Ilan Katin, a Berlin-based artist who works across drawing, live visual performances, and installations.
"Frontera" is part of the culture programme related to Canada’s Guest of Honour presentation at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2020. We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Government of Canada. With additional support by the Embassy of Canada and the Québec Government Office in Berlin.
Dana Gingras is the renowned choreographer and dancer behind multimedia dance company Animals of Distinction. She has collaborated with cultural icons like William Gibson and Jenny Holzer. Musical collaborators include underground legends like Godspeed You! Black Emperor, The Tindersticks, Warren Ellis of the Dirty Three, The Tiger Lillies, Roger Tellier-Craig (Fly Pan Am), Le Révélateur, and Steven Severin of Siouxsie and the Banshees.
Formed in 1996, Fly Pan Am have defined the boundaries of post-rock, drawing together melodies from French pop music and structures from avant-garde styles such as minimalism and krautrock. 2019 saw the release of newest record C’est Ça.
Jasmine Guffond is an artist and composer working with social, political, and technical infrastructures. Her practice spans live performance, recording, sound installations, and custom-made browser plug-ins. She performs at CTM 2020 ahead of the release of Microphone Permissions on Editions Mego.
United Visual Artists (UVA) is a London based art practice founded in 2003 by Matt Clark. UVA’s artworks range from small-scale, wall-based pieces to large-scale sculptural installations for cultural institutions and public spaces. UVA interrogate our relationship with technology, and the creation of phenomena that transcend the purely physical.
Ilan Katin is a Berlin based artist who currently makes non-figurative drawings, occasionally collaborates with musicians doing live visual performances, and sometimes ventures into the creation of installations.
Animals of Distinction is the multimedia dance company of renowned choreographer and dancer Dana Gingras. They have developed numerous cutting-edge works that have involved innovative collaborations across diverse media, all shaped by the possibilities of new technologies and cultural shifts.