Nowhere and Everywhere at the Same Time, No.2

William Forsythe
1949, New York, NY (US) – Frankfurt am Main (DE)

Plumb bobs, string, compressed air cylinders, aluminium frames
Courtesy of the artist

Producer: Julian Gabriel Richter

Technical Conception & Realisation: Max Schubert
Construction & Control: Christian Schubert
Programming: Sven Thöne

A Coproduction of The Forsythe Company
and Ruhrtriennale, International Festival of the Arts

August 24. 2013, Folkwang Museum, Essen /
Ruhrtriennale 2013

Essen, Museum Folkwang, 2013
Brighton, Festival, 2014
Sydney, Art Biennale, 2016
Paris, La Villette, 2017
Rennes, Musée de la Danse, 2018
Sao Paulo, SESC Pompeia, 2019
Houston, MFAH, 2019
Hongkong, West Kowloon Cultural District - Freespace, 2021
Karlsruhe, ZKM, 2023
Abu Dhabi, Berklee Center, 2023

The Ruhrtriennale realisation of Nowhere
and Everywhere at the Same Time No. 2 marks
an entirely new chapter in the development
of this choreographic work. Originally created
for a solo dancer and 40 pendulums in
an abandoned building on New Yorks historic
High Line, the installation has been continuously
developed in contexts as diverse as the
monumental industrial architecture of
the Turbine Hall of the Tate Modern, and the
historical setting provided by the Arsenale of
the Venice Biennale. This new edition preserves
and privileges two central interests in
Forsythe's oeuvre: counterpoint and the unconscious
choreographic competence induced
by choreographic situations. Suspended from
automated grids, more than 400 pendulums
are activated to initiate a sweeping 15 part
counterpoint of tempi, spacial juxtaposition
and gradients of centrifugal force which
offers the spectator a constantly morphing
labyrinth of significant complexity. The spectators
are free to attempt a navigation this
statistically unpredictable environment, but
are requested to avoid coming in contact with
any of the swinging pendulums. This task,
which automatically initiates and alerts the
spectators innate predictive faculties, produces
a lively choreography of manifold and intricate
avoidance strategies.