Earlier this semester, CalArts’ Film Directing Program hosted guest artist Benjamin Millepied, a director, dancer and choreographer best-known for his work on the Darren Aronofsky film Black Swan. During his lecture at CalArts, Millepied, founder of L.A. Dance Project, spoke about collaborating with artists working in all media, including one project with visual artist and CalArts alumnus Mark Bradford (Art BFA 1995, MFA 1997).
The duo premiered Framework, three site-specific pieces that explore the convergence of dance, music and painting, in the MOCA Grand Avenue galleries in July. Millepied danced with Amanda Wells in the museum space on Rudolf Stingel’s Untitled (2007–2012)—wall-to-wall white carpeting installed specifically for the exhibition—with Bradford providing the narration.
Last week, MOCA’s new web TV channel, MOCAtv, released a short video on Framework with interviews with Bradford and Millepied woven in between excerpts from the live performance.
From MOCA:
Bringing together Benjamin’s choreography and Mark’s paintings, the performance illustrates the beauty and power of movement as it resonates within both figure and frame. Through Benjamin and Mark’s narration, Framework explores the unique stories, tones, and impulses that give life to their work.
The artists’ video project has been posted in its entirety, above.