'BUNNY' by Luke George & Daniel Kok at Pica, in Perth

Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts (PICA) will stage Bunny, a two hour experience of collectivity created by dance provocateurs #lukegeorge (Melbourne) and #danielkok (Singapore) from 31 March to 4 April 2020. To unravel shared lines of connection, suspend tension and unleash collective desires, George and Kok exploit the physical properties of rope, knots, and rope bondage.

Bunny unpicks the boundaries of desire, trust, consent and communion between artist and audience; ‘Bunny’ and ‘Rigger’. ‘Bunny’ is the nickname given to the person being tied in rope bondage. This work asks, “What if everyone in the theatre is a Bunny?”

Staged in the round, the web of technicoloured ropes draws performer and audience into an increasingly enveloping bind.

“Our investigations in rope obliged us to appreciate the physical properties of rope, the aesthetics of knots, and the rich language shared between bodies when connected and bound by rope. More importantly, both of us are concerned with how working with rope could help us rediscover our respective physical practices in dance. As we move with our ropes, we hope to make visible multiple lines of tension and friction, to arrive at a heightened shared experience, and a greater awareness of what it means to be in communion.” – #lukegeorge and Daniel Kok

Bunny premiered at the Campbelltown Arts Centre in Sydney in January 2016 and was also performed that year at the Tokyo Performing Arts Meeting (TPAM) in Yokohama, Japan; the Abrons Arts Center, New York; and the OzAsia Festival in Adelaide. It has subsequently been performed in Melbourne, #australia; Portland, USA; Vienna, Austria; Brugge, Belgium; Montreal, Canada; Utrecht, Netherlands; Venice, Italy; Shanghai, China; and Taipei, Taiwan. It was last performed in September 2019 atThéâtre Garonne, Théâtre de la Cité as part of la Biennale Toulouse, France.

CREATIVE TEAM

Creation & Performance: Luke George & Daniel Kok
Dramaturgy: Tang Fu Kuen
Lighting Design: Matthew Adey / House of Vnholy
Technical Stage Manager: Steve Kwek
Producer: Alison Halit
Commissioned by Campbelltown Arts Centre

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Daniel Kok studied Fine Art & Critical Theory at Goldsmiths College (London, 1997-2001), Solo/Dance/Authorship (SODA, Berlin, 2012) and Advanced Performance and Scenography Studies (APASS, Brussels, 2014). In 2008, he received the Young Artist Award from National Arts Council (Singapore). His performances have been presented across Asia, Europe, #australia and North America, notably Maxim Gorki Theater (Berlin), ImpulsTanz (Vienna), Festival/Tokyo and AsiaTOPA (Melbourne).

Exploring the relational politics in spectatorship and audienceship, Daniel has worked with pole dance, cheerleading, bondage and other ‘figures of performance’. Recent works include “Bunny” (2016), in collaboration with #lukegeorge (Melbourne) and “xhe”, a durational performance-installation created with Miho Shimizu (Tokyo) that premiered at the da:ns Festival at Esplanade (Singapore, 2018) and LiveWorks at Performance Space (Sydney, 2018).

Daniel is the artistic director of Dance Nucleus, an independent dance space for artistic research, creative development and critical discourse in Singapore.

Luke George creates new choreographic work that takes daring and at times, unorthodox methods, to explore new intimacies and connections between artist and audience. Born in lutruwita/Tasmania and based in Narrm-Melbourne, Luke creates and performs work locally and internationally/culturally through connecting and working with artists, curators and public across multiple platforms and communities across #australia, Asia, Europe and North America.

Luke is committed to experimentation and innovative methods to explore the intersubjective connections between the artist and the public. He sees dance less as spectacle than as reflexive practice, in which #people examine themselves and their values through movement and interaction. He is concerned with relational politics, examining the dynamics of intimacy, collectivity and risk. A high awarded and commissioned artist, In 2019 Luke received an #australia Council for the Arts Fellowship, his work Public Actions premiered at Dance Massive (Melbourne) and Bunny was presented in the Venice Biennale. In 2020 Luke has been appointed Artistic Associate of Temperance Hall.

BUNNY by #lukegeorge & Daniel Kok

31 March – 4 April 2020

Presented by PICA & Strut Dance

Dates, Time & Location
31 March
1, 3 & 4 April at 7.30pm
PICA Performance Space

Duration
120 minutes (no interval)

Patron Notes
For ages 18+
Participation is voluntary.
Contains adult themes.

Re-entry is permitted throughout the show.

ASSOCIATED EVENTS

Tie Massage Workshop

6 – 9 April

PICA Performance Space

More info HERE