Bionic Step

01/16/22 • 61 min

In this episode, our co-host Nina Davies gets into the artist’s seat, sharing her work ‘Bionic Step’, a twelve-minute fictional conversation with an academic whose research explores techno-faith, a new form of spirituality which attempts to understand human’s changing relationship with technology. In the episode Nina and Niamh discuss how this fictional dance called Bionic Step acts as a future version of the 1518 Dancing Plague in Strasbourg. Together they examine the changing functions of dance in the aftermath of TikTok and how technological advancements affect the creation and attention towards faith.

Coming from an extensive dance and performance background, Nina Davies (b. 1991, Canada) now situates her work within the Fine Arts; questioning choreography beyond its performative state. Using moving image, sound, text and fiction her practice aims to further critical discussion around dance by observing how it intersects with language and where it begins to take on commodified or material forms. Her work has been exhibited at SEAGER Gallery, London; Robota - Center for Advanced Studies, Bratislava; Museum Tijdschrift Cultuurcentrum, Brugge; and Strangelove Time Based Media Festival, London. She has performed at Lilian Baylis Studios, London; The Ailey Citigroup Theatre, NYC; and The Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver. Nina co-hosts the bi-monthly radio show called Future Artefacts alongside artist Niamh Schmidtke. Together Nina and Niamh present audio works by artists that use fiction as a way of exploring the world at present.

Image: Clara Atkinson

Artist Nina Davies

Host Niamh Schmidtke

Music Joe Moss and John Trevaskis

Producer Flo Lines

Broadcast through Radio Thamesmead

Image: Clara Atkinson

Artist Nina Davies

Host Niamh Schmidtke

Music Joe Moss and John Trevaskis

Producer Flo Lines

Broadcast through Radio Thamesmead

Previous Episode

Visions in the Crucible

In the fifth episode, alongside Nikolai Azariah, we share and discuss his work ‘Visions in the Crucible’, a twelve-minute audio narrative. By following the protagonist through an alternate world in which people become crystallised in salt, Azariah invites us to consider the multiple interpretations of salt. Made in tandem with his real-life observations of salt as a material, the work blends the study of alchemy with fiction. Together we discuss the links between female mystics and medieval alchemists through gendered knowledge and their varying relationships with science and spirituality.

Nikolai Azariah is a Finnish-British video and installation artist whose practice delves into memory, place and poetry, navigating myth to make sense of the world. His recent work investigates salt as material and manifestation of poetic meaning. As a juncture of opposites and the essence of corporeality, salt is taken as both subject and framework for his practice. This is viewed through the lens of alchemy, a deeply material and profoundly spiritual practice, combining thoughts on the human soul with experimentation in the laboratory. Restructuring, possibility and transformation are inherent in the alchemical processes he uses to uncover salt’s hidden virtues.

Artist Nikolai Azariah

Hosts Nina Davies and Niamh Schmidtke

Music Joe Moss and John Trevaskis

Producer Flo Lines

Broadcast through Radio Thamesmead

Next Episode

Bosode

For this episode, Akinsola Lawanson shares their work Bosode, a 12 minute audio narrative, which follows the tale of Bosode, a girl who is transported to the spirit world and sent on a quest. Combining deities, Orumila and Eshu, from Ifa religion with binary mathematics, Lawanson’s influences of Nollywood horror and early 2000s game aesthetics reveal Yoruba culture outside of contemporary binaries. Through discussing fantasy narratives, divination systems and their relationship with determinism, Bosode acts as a parable, warning us about how we can decide our own fate when more powerful beings are around.

Akinsola Lawanson is a British-Nigerian multi-disciplinary artist based in London. Through different mediums such as moving image, video game engines and motorised sculptures; their practice examines a variety of themes including relational systems, digital technologies and process philosophy.

WEBSITE

Artist Akinsola Lawanson

Hosts Nina Davies and Niamh Schmidtke

Music Joe Moss and John Trevaskis

Producer Flo Lines

Broadcast through Radio Thamesmead