LIVE: Human Unreadable Act II
Starting now, Human Unreadable collectors are invited to uncover their unique and fully on-chain choreographic score here. Each artwork in the collection is the result of the motion data of a unique movement sequence, which has not been visible until now. Act II brings us one step closer to the raw human expression that lies beneath the collection.
A slow recovery of the human continues.
To refresh your memory:
Act I was the reveal on Art Blocks
Act II is the uncovering of the underlying movement sequences in the form of a secondary token/choreographic score
Act III is a live performance
Dance notation has a rich history, including complex approaches to express, document, or record movement within the limits of an image that date back hundreds of years (recommended reading, “How to Write a Dance” in The Paris Review for further historical context). Operator chose to design these on-chain choreographic scores in a way that maximizes accessibility, in a way that could be legible even to someone without any understanding of dance notation. Each score includes drawings of the movements in the sequence as well as other details that inform how the sequence should be performed (e.g. tempo, order, direction faced).
Historical dance notation examples (Labanotation, Merce Cunningham, Pierre Beauchamp, 1700s-present)
Operator Human Unreadable choreographic score, exhibited at HEK Basel (2023)
“
Perfection is boring. Choreography, even when performed by professional dancers, is never performed the same way twice. There is always a layer of human interpretation, a one-ness of any instance of movement that is what makes it human. There are as many versions of any movement as there are humans on this planet. We encourage you to at least attempt to embody the movement sequence as part of this experience. In the worst case, you feel stupid and laugh at yourself, which is still a net positive.
”
Choreographic score working group, Palermo (August 2023)
Choreographic score working group, Palermo (August 2023)
In Fall 2023, once the duo finished the drawings, they held a choreographic score working group in Palermo with 5 dancers who didn’t know any of the movements. The aim was to test the legibility of the scores. The dancers were shown the drawings and asked to perform the movements as they saw them on paper. Operator and the dancers workshopped each move one by one after reviewing how they were performed. That working group continued to provide feedback as the drawings were finalized into the versions that you see on the scores today.
Special thanks to the wonderful dancers who participated in this process: Silvia Scalici Gesolfo, Barbara Minacori, Fabrizio Di Franco, Giulio Hoxhallari, Evelyn Hutchings
Even if you don’t own a Human Unreadable, as they’re uncovered you can still see, interpret, and embody the movements! If you do and are in a sharing mood, use the hashtag #UNREADABLEMOVES
Crypto art needs some circulation.
XO,
Operator