A Synopsis of ||| Movement (Shuffle)

What impression will ||| Movement leave behind for its host site? What if ||| Movement decides to stay indefinitely? Will it outstay its welcome? While it’s still here, how does ||| Movement want to dance with its surrounding site―with its curves, its emotions, its (missed) opportunities? For lack of imagination, ||| Movement takes its host site by the hand, and then by the waist, and gives it a twirl for old times’ sake!

||| Movement (Shuffle), conceived as the second part of ||| Movement, imagines this dance through the ||| Movement installation and soundscape’s zones for remembering, contemplating and transforming―all this against the fragmentation of past relics, the romantic backdrop of Fort Canning Park and the youthful aspirations of the neighbouring collegiate. 

||| Movement (Shuffle) begins with couples of various pairings enjoying recognisable slow dance steps and an emerging pattern of twirls and spirals. The image of a ballroom is conjured from this transitory space between the Singapore that never sleeps and the Singapore that sits still.  Perhaps in a rocking embrace, the non-stop movement and the stillness can co-exist. Viewers and passers-by are invited to join in this embrace with two-left feet, two-right feet, and everything in between. 

Abruptly, spritely and sticky young individuals take interest in the space and the highs and lows of its installations. The individuals coalesce into a blob for added support and travel through the space― curving around, going under and climbing over anything/one that is in their way. When the journey is easy, they do a fast and playful dance. They can only manage a slow dance when the journey is tough. There is no end to their travels. Someone needs to tell them to stop! Though, occasionally, they find themselves in a tight, forgotten corner at the self-help section, and someone steals a kiss. 

What does the host site think or feel about all this? Does it need some time to respond? Would it help if there were a rest in the movement at this very moment; a pause for breath? Perhaps everyone―blob, dancing couples, viewers―lost their ability to move anything but their expressive diaphragms. At this point, soft cricket sounds escape from behind clenched teeth and fill the space. Somehow, the cricket sounds make contemplating that much easier.