Co-Motion Single Field Instrument

Nov 17 — 18, 2023
Field:

Performance

Location:

Libby Leshgold Gallery, Vancouver

Time:

7:30 p.m. (Nov 17) / 3:00 p.m. (Nov 18)

Description:

Co-Motion Single Field Instrument was a performance by Nour Mobarak presented at Libby Leshgold Gallery.

Mobarak is an artist working in performance, sound installation, and sculpture to create inter-sensory systems that reframe how we perceive the body and voice in space. In Co-Motion Single Field Instrument, Mobarak turns the gallery into a room-sized instrument by using a real-time tracking system designed and conceptualized by the artist and digitally programmed by Alex Iglizian to trigger sounds, samples, and audio and lighting effects as she moves across a colour-coded grid on the floor.

Across the sixty-minute duration of her two performances, Mobarak improvised and interacted with different modes of sound synthesis to explore the shifting reactions to her location and how the system becomes an uncanny collaborator—with the sounds triggered affecting Mobarak’s movement and live vocalizations, which in turn, affects the sound.

Alongside Mobarak’s own vocalizations, the work also layers in many other voices drawn from a large sound bank of samples that she compiled. These include recordings of some of the most phonemically complex languages, such as Taa, Abkhaz, San Juan Quiahije Eastern Chatino, and Silbo Gomero—each one reflecting a much wider sonic palette than languages like English.

Co-Motion Single Field Instrument was originally commissioned by Lampo and The Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago, where the project was organized by Andrew Fenchel and Karsten Lund.

Presented in partnership with Libby Leshgold Gallery. 

Curated by Aki Onda.

Video documentation is available upon request.
In a white cube gallery, Nour Mobarak walks towards the camera with her eyes closed. She wears an X shaped harness across her chest, with sheer fabric flowing behind her. Audience members sit against the walls, and coloured tape demarcates the performance area in x’s and lines on the floor.
Green light fills a white-cube gallery space as Nour Mobarak performs in the centre of the room. She leans backwards and gazes up at the ceiling while her feet face forwards. Audience members sit on benches in the background, captivated by the performance.
Green light fills the room as Nour Mobarak balances in a downward dog shape. She wears sneakers, metallic pants, and a harness with microphone wires.
Nour Mobarak runs in a gallery flooded with blue light. Her left foot is barely tapping the floor while her right foot remains lifted in motion.
A portrait of Nour Mobarak in blue light. She looks up to the ceiling with her mouth agape. Her hair is disheveled from the movement of her performance, and she wears an x shaped harness over a long sleeve top. She keeps her arms above her waist, with her hands flat and palms facing down.
Nour Mobarak runs through a blue-lit gallery behind a row of audience members. The floor is marked with shapes made from neon tape.
A hopeful look plasters Nour Mobarak’s face in this purple-lit side profile image. Her hands are clasped behind her head in what looks like a moment of pause. A technician at a desktop computer and one audience member is seen behind her.
The gallery is flooded with purple light as Nour Mobarak stands with her back to the camera. She holds out her arms to create a U shape by bending upwards at the elbows. A technician sits at a desktop computer, focusing on the performance.
Nour Mobarak reclines with her feet tucked under her buttocks and her shoulders laid flat on the gallery floor. Her elbows are turned upward to bring her open hands towards her ears. A device attached to her head emits an orange light.
With her back to the camera, Nour Mobarak stands at the centre of a gallery space illuminated by a red glow. Her arms are tight at her sides and her feet together. Audience on all sides of her seated on benches.
Nour Mobarak lays face down on the floor with one arm tucked under her forehead. Her other arm is stretched in front of her, palm to the floor. The room is illuminated red and you can see four audience members seated on benches.

Related People

Captions:

Western Front is a non-profit
artist-run centre in Vancouver.

We acknowledge the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations as traditional owners of the land upon which Western Front stands.