Mårten Spångberg: The Internet

Presented by Block Universe in partnership with ICA and Dance Art Foundation, Mårten Spångberg’s The Internet pushes the boundaries of performance. Intertwining music, dance and sculpture. This extends the traditional limits of a dance performance, presenting a durational format that addresses both the surrounds of a theatre and a gallery.

Investigating the influences of digital communication on choreography and representation, within this performance social networks become secondary audiences, and health apps, games and dating tools are used to generate dance, rhythm and vibe. Bodies interact with other bodies within this performance, including ‘bodies’ such as people, objects and discourses. One of these objects is the internet, understood within this work as a metaphor for a radically monumental, yet immaterial structure with no starting or ending point.

At almost four hours long, the work includes pop music, dance, changes of dress, and a set that incorporates sculptural elements, in which audiences are encouraged to move around, watch, fade out, re-join, have a nap or enjoy chat with a friend.

Block Universe is London’s annual festival of performance art celebrating cutting-edge performance at the cross-section of contemporary visual art, dance and music. Following a successful launch in 2015, Block Universe returns for its second edition across major institutions and unique venues from 30 May to 5 June 2016, with an expanded public programme.

This week-long festival aims to create an accessible entry point for audiences to experience challenging and creative performance work, celebrating a new generation of artists in the UK performance art scene and positioning London at the forefront of the international dialogue about performance art.

Artists performing new commissions and exclusive UK premieres of their work include niv Acosta, Alexis Blake, Jesse Darling, Philip Ewe, Erica Scourti, Lina Hermsdorf, Grace Schwindt and Mårten Spångberg, with further names to be announced. Taking a fresh look at what performance in contemporary art can mean today, works span a wide range and include sculptural elements, song, choreography, movement, video, image, text and the spoken word.