the silents: for Derive | 2007

​Commissioned and Presented by Flaneur Productions
​Northwestern Casket Co. Building 1, Minneapolis, MN

​Choreography and Direction
​Vanessa Voskuil
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​Performer
​Robert Haarmon

Film Installation
​Kevin Obsatz

Music Composition and Design by Ben Siems, in collaboration with Jeremy Hauer and Vanessa Voskuil

Costume
​Vanessa Voskuil

PRESS

"Vanessa Voskuil can’t touch material without changing it utterly….From the moment dancer Robert Haarmon rushed into the darkened room on a blade of light, trailing a cloud of dust, I was in another world. After a spasmodic struggle in near dark cut sometimes with stabbing light, to a soundtrack of industrial scratches and grinds (the work of Ben Siems), Haarmon escaped from most of his clothes and walked calmly through the audience. He pressed the button for the elevator: in the darkness the door dinged and slid open, and the brilliant metal shined like angels as Haarmon stepped in. Meaning? If you can’t state one, you won’t miss it. In Voskuil’s work, image leads sense." –  mspmag.com

"...I imagined your piece to be something the filmmaker David Lynch might make if he were working in a different medium...particularly the arresting soundtrack...thank you for a challenging and inspiring evening. I'm seriously grateful to you for reminding me that artistic vision is alive in the Twin Cities. "


– audience member

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