“Statolith” was first performed in 2018 at Galleri Mejan in Stockholm and is included in the collection of Moderna Museet. Adèle Essle Zeiss makes use of simple materials—three long wooden planks placed horizontally in the space, a sack of cement strapped to one end of each. On the other end of each plank sits a dancer as a counterweight. Any little movement changes the elevation of the plank, setting it in motion. A dialogue across generations is established in the museum between different artists with an interest in movement and balance.
Adèle Essle Zeiss poses the question“Where do we perceive the border to be between movement and stillness?” She goes on to describe the work: “The dancers are assigned to sit still, but every now and then to perform a controlled, collective movement upward or downward. The planks serve as amplifiers. They enlarge small movements of the dancers’ bodies and transmit them out into the space.”
A documentation will complement the installation when the dancers are not present. Information on performance dates will be added.
Adèle Essle Zeiss studied to be a dancer at the Royal Swedish Ballet School and has a master’s degree in fine art from the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm. “Statolith” was included in the 2022 exhibition “Swedish Acquisitions: Matches” at Moderna Museet in Stockholm. In 2021, Accelerator, a Stockholm University exhibition space, showed the most comprehensive presentation to date of her performance art, and her work has also been featured by MDT, Haninge Konsthall, the Ulvhälls Hällar art park, and in Denmark at Den Frie/Dansehallerne.
Curator: Elisabeth Millqvist
