Swimming
With Dolphins
An immersive Performance by
Harm Coordes & The Artistic Research Institute of Plankton
How do we encounter one another? As human beings, but also in relation to the beings that share our environment — and how do we rank them?
Inspired by plankton, the often-overlooked foundation of marine life and producer of more than half of the earth’s oxygen, »Swimming with Dolphins« combines performance, installation, sound, and movement with poetry and scientific knowledge into an immersive participatory experience. It creates a situation in which we set in motion familiar roles, hierarchies and boundaries between spectators and performers, between the unfamiliar and the familiar, and between individual and collective experiences. Who is there–with us, below us, above us, next to us?
The performance begins in the Schwankhalle and leads to Werdersee. It trains participants to become ‘plankton’ themselves, plunge into the water’s body and let themselves drift. It invites us to let go, to open up and drift together. A space emerges in which different people – regardless of age, background or prior knowledge – come into contact with one another. Physical awareness, trust and shared experience come to the fore. The project sees itself as an invitation to ‘serious play’: a lighthearted yet earnest deep dive to the unknown that enables new forms of closeness, exchange and mutual understanding. Bring your swimwear!
About the Artists
The Artistic Research Institute of Plankton is a newly formed group of artistic researchers from Sweden, Germany, Argentina and Switzerland who have previously collaborated in various constellations. They are united by a shared interest in ecological themes, connections to the non-human, practices of embodiment, care and empathy.
Instagram: @churchofthehand ↗ @plankton.institute ↗
Harm Coordes is a designer specialising in sustainable fashion and costume. In his artistic doctoral research at the University of Groningen (RUG) and the University of the Arts Bremen, he explores the connections between fashion, meaning and mindfulness through participatory fashion performances.
In her work, Nadine Kunz draws on bodily memories and explores the relationship between body and space. She works across media, using drawing, photography, digital image composition, movement and performance, navigating the tension between conceptual thinking and intuitive action.
Tatiana Heuman works at the intersection of sound, media art and movement research. Her current projects revolve around the expansion of the sensory realm. As a musician, she collaborates with choreographers including Olivia Hyunsin Kim and Constanza Macras.
Stefan Andersson Stefan Andersson is a theatre and performance artist dedicated to devising, experimentation and interdisciplinary practice. He’s currently working with themes of water, masculinities, identity, memories and stories in clothes and shower gel, exploring multiple styles of performing, participation and collective rituals.
Instagram @stefanskonst ↗
Credits
Directed by: Stefan Andersson, Harm Coordes
Art Direction: Harm Coordes
Performance and Choreography: Nadine Kunz, Stefan Andersson
Sound and Composition: Tatiana Heuman
Production Manager: Jonathan Brunken
Costume Assistant: Milan Delinowski
Video: Malte Ellberg
Voice: Belinka Eichhorn
Co-production: Schwankhalle
Supported by the Senator for Culture of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen and the Karin and Uwe Hollweg Foundation.