14. William Forsythe Rings at the ICA
When my daughter showed me a video of her visit to the Institute of Contemporary Art, where she walked through the air on gymnastics rings suspended by ropes from the ceiling, I said, “I want to do that!”
She had made it all the way through the jungle of rings, from one end of the installation to the other, without touching the ground. While she warned me that it took a lot of upper body strength, I was pretty sure I could make it, too. Not!
It was really, really hard:
The exhibit, WIlliam Forsythe: Choreographic Objects, challenges the participant to move intentionally, in ways outside of our everyday, automatic walking. Forsythe, director of the Frankfurt Ballet and then his own dance troupe, the Forsythe Company, choreographs contemporary ballets performed by top dance companies around the world. He also creates interactive art installations, shown for the first time in the U.S. at the ICA.
Forsythe wants visitors to struggle. When a reporter told him how difficult it was to get through the rings, he said, “I'm really glad you were having a hard time … Probably you weren't thinking about much else at that time. You were not worried about your bank statement, or your parking ticking away. I think that it brought you to yourself, the way dilemmas do."
So true! When my other daughter and I visited and I tried the rings, I was thinking of nothing but “Where can I put my foot?” and “How can I grab that next rope without falling?”
“Struggle” sums up the experience nicely. Maybe this clip does, too:
My daughter, of course, made it all the way across without touching the floor, just like her sister. While I didn’t reach the end suspended in the air - my muscles were shaking and I could feel them tensing up - I covered about three-fourths of the installation. Not too bad!
While the rings constitute the main attraction, other parts of the exhibit provoke thought and laughter, like the moving mirror and a room full of pendulums hung from the ceiling. The pendulums were a breeze compared to the rings, but still forced me to think about each step I took:
If you want to experience this exhibit, you’ll have to hurry, as it closes on February 21.
We’re excited to experience more of William Forsythe’s creativity next weekend, when we see a preview of Full on Forsythe, pieces he choreographed for the Boston Ballet (not one of my adventures, just a fun thing I’m doing with my dance-obsessed kid).
William Forsythe: Choreographic Images at the Boston Institute of Contemporary Art, $15 general admission, $13 if you’re over 60, $10 for students, and kids 17 and under are free.
