As Storm Darragh rages across the marshes of Suffolk, two very unique artists join forces inside the Snape Maltings complex for what promises to be one special performance. The inclement weather that is raging outside and the historical aesthetic inside the Snape Maltings conspire to create a mood that is befitting of a performance that will grapple with life’s biggest taboo.
An-Ting and Masumi Saito
Jerwood Kiln, Snape Maltings, Suffolk, 07.12.24
Death: perhaps the last taboo in the Western tradition. It’s something that will touch us in countless ways throughout our lives and it’s an experience that will greet us all as we take our last breath. Yet it’s a thing that very few of us will discuss in any great detail until circumstance makes us face reality, often in the most harshest way, and our unpreparedness means it hits all the harder. For the Western psyche death is what the English would call “The elephant in the room”; it’s big and hulking and hard to avoid, but somehow we do. This collaboration between Japanese performance artist Masumi Saito and Taiwanese musical alchemist An-Ting aims to bring death to the centre of our consciousness, asking us to reconsider our relationship with death and in doing so remove some of the stigma that surrounds it.
Romanian philosopher E.M. Cioran once stated: “Not to born is undoubtedly the best plan of all.”, but we are here now and one of life’s few certainties is that we must face death like it’s a runaway locomotive racing towards us. Forcing us to face the fear of the unknown, both artists appear in non-denominational costumes; An-Ting’s vaguely alludes to traditional Mongolian; it is comprised of bold blue and blood red stripes whilst Masumi is attired in off-white in an outfit that suggests the Hindu religion, yet both outfits allow room for the audience to infer their own meaning. However, most striking is the contrast between the two performers; the colourful and the plain and is one of many opposites that runs throughout this work. It is birth and death, the loud and quiet, and An-Ting expressing herself through music whilst Masumi uses movement to convey meaning. An-Ting is often animated when creating her music whilst in opposition Masumi’s movements are slow and deliberate or else she stands still and statuesque. It is as if someone has held up a mirror between the two, with each acting as a foil to highlight and enhance the other.
Neither An-Ting or Masumi Saito is adverse to cooperating with other artists; An-Ting has recently teamed up with technologist Ian Gallagher for some truly immersive shows, whilst Masumi has recently worked with Bo Ningen’s Taigen Kawabe. Yet, this pairing has an obvious chemistry; there’s an organic quality to An-Ting’s music as she beats rhythms on homeware, handclaps and slams poles on tables, all recorded on dynamic and contact mics then played back on loops and with lashings of feedback. But no matter what audio wizardry emerges from An-Ting’s analogue equipment, Masumi’s movements remain true and you feel that no sonic surprise will shatter her showroom dummy stare.
At just 30-minutes today’s performance is a truncated version of the original vision and this allows an equal amount of time for a question and answer session. What this reveals is the way that this show has connected with people on a deep, personal level. Obviously, different people have picked up on different aspects of the performance, yet this show has got people talking about death and in that respect mission is accomplished.
