Emma and Madison don’t know each other but dance individually-together, anticipating their unknown audience’s aesthetic, mental, and social needs. As they move intuitively with nuanced intents manifested by their past personal experiences, cultural backgrounds, and social sensibilities, they share a common desire to empathize and create a sort of ethical ‘proximity at a distance’ with the digital viewer(s).
Merged Subjects is an experimental dance film, a collaboration between multidisciplinary artist Igor Elie-Pierre and choreographers Emma Gordon and Madison Lynch as part of a broader multimedia research project on kinesthetic empathy. The choreographic and cinematographic experiments conducted for this project investigate the affective interrelation between body movement, gestures, camera movement, electronic music with its different stems, and an array of contemporary technologies. It explores the performers’ individual and mutual interaction with an unknown digital audience - using intuition, anticipation, and intersubjectivity - questioning ways to sustain empathy, authenticity, togetherness, and acceptance through the screen for our collective mental health.
Stream the new EP 'Pivot' : www.igoreliepierre.com/igor360
Direction and production: Igor Elie-Pierre
Choreography and performance: Emma Gordon, Madison Lynch
Cinematography: Igor Elie-Pierre
Editing: Igor Elie-Pierre
color grading: Jack Kibbey Newman
Costumes: Hania New York (sweaters), KD New York (dancewear)
Music: IGOR360
Piano credits: Hanxin Chi
Music Mastering: Enyang Urbiks