Mechanics of Motion / Winterlumen
The aerial dance duet, Mechanics of Motion, was commissioned to mark the opening of a new building at The Point theatre complex in Eastleigh.
Performed by Jono Fee & Graeme Clint
Musician/composer: Sianed Jones
Rigged by High Performance Productions
Leonardo Da Vinci has always fascinated me as someone who cross-fertilised ideas from science, art and engineering. Da Vinci is widely regarded as an innovator and inventor and his research and works on anatomy, movement and flight provide numerous sources of inspiration for an aerial duet. The drawing of the Vetruvian Man, one of the most widely recognized symbols in the world, was one such source for the piece. The Roman architect Vetruvius, after whom Da Vinci’s drawing is named, theorized that the human body was the principle source of proportion in architecture because the body fits into the perfect geometric forms of a square and a circle.
Throughout the Renaissance many artists tried, and failed, to produce the relationship Vetruvius described. It took Da Vinci’s innovative and artistic abilities to present a solution.
Da Vinci’s work on anatomy and motion was never just about the specific item under investigation. It was also about how the item and the findings were connected to other aspects of the natural and built world. His detailed drawings and models explored the mechanics of a moving body and was, in part, a component of his research into whether humans could ever master flight.
With some artistic liberty, I have taken some of these images, thoughts and concepts to create a dance of bodies moving through the air.