Sriwhana Spong, Im Wintergarten

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At the centre of the exhibition stands a keyed metallophone created by Sriwhana Spong, which is based on the tuning system of the Balinese Gamelan Orchestra where pairs of instruments are purposely detuned. One part of the pair is referred to as the "inhaler", the other as the "exhaler". When played simultaneously these paired instruments create an acoustic beating known as ‘ombak’, comparable to an acoustic wavelike motion. The composer Antonia Barnett-McIntosh will improvise on Sriwhana Spong’s keyed metallophone while a choreography created by Benjamin Ord in collaboration with Michael-John Harper will be performed live by both dancers. The choreography reconsiders the traditional pas de deux (or ‘step of two’) through the dynamics of contemporary seduction it implied, inspired by both Manet’s painting ‘Im Wintergarten’ and Jean Genet's film ‘Un chant d’amour’.