Solange has debuted a new interdisciplinary video and dance performance piece at Los Angeles’ Hammer Museum.
Titled Metatronia, it’s directed by the musician and artist, and presented in partnership with Uniqlo. The performance, choreographed by Solange and Gerard & Kelly, features dancers from the California State University.
Exploring sound, movement, and space, the visual also features a new sculpture titled Metatron’s Cube that she conceptualised and created, work that will travel and be exhibited across the U.S.
Of the sculpture, Solange said in a statement: “In the past I have designed my sets and sculptures to exist in relationship to my performance pieces. I’m excited about transitioning into creating larger scale works that have the duality of existing as part of a performance and then as a standalone sculpture that can be engaged with by the public.
“It was important to me to make the piece modular so that it can be quickly assembled in different landscapes allowing people to have individual interactions and experiences.”
In an additional statement, Solange said the participants in the project were “phenomenal” and thanked everyone “who lent their bodies and energies to this project,” while also describing the purpose of the piece.
“Metatronia explores the process, and mapping of creation,” she said. “The piece is an exercise on following the intuitive force that guides us, helping us to create space, and silence the mind to create the work. Continuing my practices and interest in exploring the relationship of movement and architecture as a meditation, Metatronia centers around building frequency and creating charge through visual storytelling.”
The A Seat at the Table artist has been expansively exploring herself as a visual artist. At last year’s Tate Modern Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power exhibition, Knowles Ferguson debuted interactive dossier Seventy States. The collection included never-before-seen performance pieces, concepts for the “Cranes in the Sky” and “Don’t Touch My Hair” music videos, and an original score and performance by Solange titled “We Sleep in Our Clothes”. Two untitled poems were also exhibited.
The artist also debuted performance art shows at the Guggenheim Museum and the Chinati Foundation in Marfa, Texas last year.
Watch Metatronia here