ABout the work

Peripheral Perception explores how humans perceive, process, and interpret information, particularly the often- overlooked details that shape individual experience.

A few years ago, I was introduced to the music of Alexander Scriabin through a recording of his preludes by Spanish pianist Eduardo Fernández. Learning about Scriabin’s colour-sound synesthesia became a key source of inspiration for this work.

My creative process examines the “internal rhythms” of the media I work with: the piano, the dancers, the poetic colours Scriabin associated with each prelude, and the shutter speed of the film camera. For example, the dancers’ heart rates (recorded in the studio with heart rate monitors) are made visually perceptible through gradually adjusted shutter speeds of the camera, creating motion blur that reflects the dancers’ internal rhythm as captured by the camera. In the music, micro- silences between notes are emphasized by recording the preludes on a muted piano, allowing the audience to perceive the rhythm of the piano hammers themselves.

The exploration of colour is also tangentially informed by Mark Rothko’s paintings and the works of James Turell, whose immersive fields inspired reflection on how visual stimuli shape attention, emotion, and movement. I believe this complements Scriabin’s synesthetic approach, reinforcing the investigation into perception and the interplay of visual and auditory experience.

The final dance work merges live and filmed dance, music, and visual experimentation in a 20 minute piece that challenges viewers to engage with rhythm, silence, colour, and movement in an immersive setting.