[Announcer] Art Loft is brought# to you by, the Friends of South Florida PBS.

Art Loft.

It's the pulse# of what's happening in our own backyard, as well as a taste of the arts across the United# States.

In this episode, the Art of Collaboration.

Choreographer and filmmaker Roxana Barba shares# her latest collaborative project, Loop to Zero.

When you sort of just, you know, let yourself go, you find things that are,# that can be very special.

[Announcer] We meet a group of musicians and# dancers in Ohio, bringing bird song to the stage.

Bringing, you know, this project to# life, hopefully we'll kind of cause people to say, "Oh, that's not just# something flying or moving around, like they have this poetic way of singing# and moving and being that's really magical."

[Announcer] And we explore memory and# physical space with artist Camilo Restrepo, and Giannina Dwin.

Choreographer, visual artist# and filmmaker, Roxana Bar, brings us her latest project, the installation and performance, Loop to# Zero, and she says, it's all about collaboration.

Improvisation is very important in my creative# process, and I think it's part of many visual artists process, because accidents become# something.

But when you sort of just, you know, let yourself go, you find things that are, that# can be very special.

And the more that you stick with certain ideas, the more that you find# very special and meaningful things that with collaborators just take a life on its own.

I value# experimenting with collaborators who I trust, who trust me.

And together then we, you know, we# work towards something special.

My name is Roxana Barba, and I am an artist and choreographer# working predominantly in performance, installation and video around ideas of identity,# construction, transformation, and decay.

We are at Under The Bridge Art Space.

It# is an artist run space, and it's led by two Miami artists, William Cordova and Lou-Anne# Colodny.

They invited me to create site specific work that would blend the disciplines that# I'm interested in, which are performance, installation and video.

This invitation led# me to create this new body of work.

I had the opportunity to think about these ideas for a# whole year, which for me is the biggest luxury, because then I can go very deep into research# and try different things.

I knew that I wanted to extend some things that had popped up very# strongly for me in my most recent multimedia performance called, In My Center, A Cyborg Scene,# which was multimedia performance that I presented at Mad Art in Dania Beach.

And the performance# explored ideas of transformation that have to do with technology, but also myth and divination.

So# thinking critically about these things, and also connecting it to this myth that has to do with# black and white seed that is also an oracle, that where you can see into the future, it's# called Pallar Moche.

It's an ancestral myth from Peru.

So I was connecting these things that seemed# to be far apart, but for me made a lot of sense, because in a way I find that we circle around time# continuously.

And this interaction that we are having now with technology creates this feedback# where we are finding ourselves transformed by it.

So there were several things that I wanted to# revisit with this work.

And initially I thought that maybe I would just project some of the# video work, or take some of the documentation that I produced during the rehearsal period, and# make something with it.

But the ideas continued evolving, so curiously, I ended up working# with clay.

So I have some ceramic sculptures that embody these ideas that are connect back to# that performance, but are now a new body of work.

This work is sort of grounding us back# into the physical dimension, you know, of the ceramic sculptures, and these other metal# pieces that also take you into a digital space.

But we may see a different interaction.

Recently# I've been noticing that my work is always evolving and I've noticed that there's a pattern between# having a performance then develop into a show for a gallery, and then maybe moving to a performance# that circles back.

So I was wondering what was making the work so alive, and I think it's# the performance aspect of it.

So for example, this installation, you know, what makes it come# alive is this video that has performers activating this installation and having a very, very intimate# moments of blowing, of touching, of listening and looking into these metal tubes, and creating# something with them.

So the performance element, I think keeps moving through these pieces for me.# So even as I am describing them, I'm going back to their origin, which was that previous performance,# and I'm recycling, you know, those ideas into their bodies now.

So for me, they go back to that,# but now they're, you know, they find themselves in a different form.

The exhibition is called# Loop to Zero.

So it's a circling action that is, you know, in constant movement for me, that finds# himself beginning and ending and beginning again.

This work is called Oscillations, like when# something.

So oscillations, meaning.

This idea of moving between one thing and another, or moving# between spaces.

So I wanted to explore sound captured with this contact microphones that are# placed, that are concealed in this copper pipes, and see what would happen.

Sensorially as we# interacted with them.

So I collaborated with two musicians and two dancers who created a film.# And then for the opening of the gallery, we had a live performance.

There is a musician who brought# a mouthpiece of flute, and we were experimenting with those sounds while a dancer was interacting# with the piece in a physical way.

And between these, we also had a musician who was sampling the# sounds live and creating an atmosphere to sort of, you know, bring together the experience.

And so# this piece is quite special to me because in a way, it helped me birth this combination that# seems very easy or that seems very natural, where installation, performance, sound# and video are happening all together and they're not working against each other.

But if# there's like this balance between them where, you know, you're not overpowered by one or# the other, but for the live performance, it's very satisfying to see bodies activating# them while hearing the amplified sound because the amplified sounds transform you, but you're still# in close, you know, proximity to the performers who are physically, you know, creating lines# or creating tension, or creating these moments where they are sort of like measuring themselves# and establishing relationships with these pipes.

While I wanted to have a space for that work,# and have the projection here, I still wanted to connect this wall in a continuous way.

And# I felt like the video would work really well in this walls because it's a space that has this# interesting corners.

And I could see the video happening here.

And as I was editing, I kept# on thinking about the scale.

So I did a lot of closeups in the editing because I wanted viewers# to feel very close to the performers during this intimate moments.

And have also, for example,# this moment of oscillation, which for me is sort of like between the physical and this digital# sound, which we don't see.

And I know that, or maybe when I say digital, you wouldn't qualify# this work as digital, but you're hearing it and it's certainly present in the work.

So I guess# this has this meaningful oscillating movement, this action of, you know, this moment where we see# the tube oscillating like this, sort of represents for me these moments that we were exploring.# So it's a quiet, I think.

Well, it has sound, but quiet in the sense that there's, the action is# not too dramatic.

The dancing is not too big, it's mostly gesturing, and maybe some poetic moments,# like this one where the viewer can just create his or her own experience with what anything# that they're watching or listening may come up.

[Announcer] From dancers to jazz# musicians.

WVIZ Livestream in Ohio takes us along as a project combining jazz# and dance takes flight in Akron, Ohio.

Oh, Whitebreasted nuthatch.

He's pretty cute.# I think that being outside and listening for something is really magical.

See, he got closer.# They're very nosy.

They wanna know what's going on.

Oh, there he is.

So looking at birds is an# omen and as we look at bird populations declining, it kind of is an omen.

So I feel like bringing,# you know, this project to life.

Hopefully we'll kind of cause people to say, "Oh, that's# not just something flying or moving around, like they have this poetic way of singing# and moving and being that's really magical."

We were camping in the valley overlook in the# Cuyahoga Valley National Park, and we were awakened by the sound of the Wood thrush.

I,# being a birder knew what this sound was coming from.

They're very beautiful ethereal sounding# bird.

And Chris, not necessarily a birder yet, but a fabulous musician was inspired by the# Wood thrush, so I would say that is his spark bird.

So a spark bird is a species that kind of# gets you into birding, gets you excited about learning more about birds, getting out there# and listening to, or seeing birds in the wild.

After hearing the Wood thrushers, it was just# like, oh, I think I'm gonna transcribe this.

So this was like another sample.

This is from# the original wood thrush recording that we made, and I just put like a simple filter on it.# I think as I started like working on this, and like learning like what the notes actually# are and like some of the devices that the bird uses and things like that, I presented this to# a faculty member here, and we did a short little study on it.

And then Monica took it further and# was like, well, maybe we should do an actual film or try to lean towards creating a film with# all types of multimedia things present being, you know, sculpture and dance, music, spoken# word, put all these things into one project.

Christopher said, I'm interested in transcribing# bird song and I'm interested in finding dancers that might improvise the way that he does as# a jazz musician.

That got me really excited because this year we happened to be working at# NCC Akron with mostly percussive dance artists who are both dancers and musicians.

And this# gave them a shared task to explore something together.

Souls of Duende is an all-female# percussive dance trio.

We have a guitar player, we have a percussionist, and we have a trumpet# player and we have three forms of dance.

We have tap dance, we have kathak, and we# have flamenco all from different places, but sharing the same stage at the# same time, having conversations.

[Participant] Okay, I got it.

Is it like a. that you would follow, things do repeat, they# do come back, just not in any systematic way.

So I think music is perfect for that 'cause# we can mimic all things through music.

I mean, we've been doing it every culture across# many millennia have tried to use sound to connect all things in life.

So I# think it's a perfect medium for that.

So what I'm doing while they're dancing is# gathering up ideas for a longer piece.

We're going to be working on a film that kind of shows# the juxtaposition of the outdoor world where birds are free, singing, and then our indoor cooler# world where there's less of that natural sound, trying to blend and kind of contrast those.

Birds# have been used in art for millennia and I think it's a great way to bring people together and# it's a great way to bring us out into nature.

It's just so nice to be in this short# moment of collaboration with and talking about nature and what's here, and because# place matters, you know.

So not only are we learning about Akron through coming# here and this choreographic center, but we are also learning about nature and# what is surrounding the choreographic center, and what is housing the house that we're currently# in, which is giving us more information about the music that, you know, gives us an ambiance# of the energy of the space in which we cook.

[Announcer] The Fountainhead Arts# residency program continues strong, bringing dozens of artists to work in Miami# every year.

Here we meet Camilo Restrepo, as they reflect on the violence of their# Colombian childhood in the 1970s and '80s.

[Camilo] My work is about violence.# How violence grow when we try to eradicate it with more violence.

I have been# always interested in the notion of the sinister, when the familiar becomes unfamiliar.

That's such# a strange feeling that I think it comes from the violence I grew up with, because I grew up in# Colombia in the '70s and '80s, and I suffered a lot with this narco terrorism that was going# on in my country.

I mostly work with drawing, but using the paper as something that can# be traumatized.

The paper is so fragile, it can be scratched, it can be crampled# and crumpled.

I treat it with pressure washers and nearly destroy it, but then I have to# reconstruct the drawings.

So it's like a metaphor of what we have been living in Colombia.# My goal is to keep the conversation going, because I really think that a work of art,# which is not talked about, is dead work of art.

[Announcer] Next we head to the Deering# estate.

This county owned cultural gem hosts over a dozen artists and residence# every year.

Here we meet Giannina Dwin, who says her works at Deering# are a collaboration with nature.

My name is Giannina Dwin, and I have been# an artist for a long time.

My work lives in a limited space and a limited time.

I use# materials that are perishable that don't last, and therefore these materials imitate, they mirror# the processes of nature.

They go through the cycle of death and decay.

And what I invite the viewer# to do is that they would feel that dance between the time and the material to consider the nature# of humanity, the nature of things that are very transitory.

I am drawn into the intersections# between women and the environment.

They're both shaped by forces beyond their control.

The# designs that I create where the ocean seems to be invading spaces, interior indoor spaces, they're# made with edible, perishable materials.

They are sensual and evocative of youth, but the material# is stringent, like our bodies.

It also addresses the food and the nourishment dispense not only in# the form of food, but also as wisdom and the time it takes.

In the same way I try to allude to the# climate crisis that threatens us all.

The sea, it's salt, it's mystery, it's life-giving force.# It's both a source of creation and a symbol of what is at risk.

Through the work, I try to# invite the viewers into a sensorial experience, to remember the touch of a mother, the nourishment# of food, the power of water and the beauty of the natural world.

This residency is something great# for me.

These materials that I'm gathering here at the estate are just a continuation of my work.# They are organic materials that are not going to last, they are and I'm going to create# a visual, an aesthetic idea with them.

They are just exactly what my work does, showing# the cycles of nature, showing the decay of things and the transformation.

So it's really# a continuation.

It couldn't be better for me.

[Announcer] Art Loft is on Instagram, @artloftsfl.# Tag us on your arts adventures.

Find full episode segments and more at artloftsfl.org# and on YouTube at South Florida PBS.

Art Loft is brought to you by# the Friends of South Florida PBS.