Beginningless Mind: (rivers, rhythms, rituals) \\ Marija Bozinovska Jones

This new edition of Beginningless Mind activated embodied knowledge through movement, in an ongoing collaboration with 33EMYBW, J.G. Biberkopf (Gediminas Zygus) and Jayson Haebich, and an additional collaboration with choreographer Franka Marlene Foth.

In search of a sense of belonging through a shared reality, Beginningless Mind probed collective worldmaking. The work voiced Wikipedia as a knowledge commons and mapped it onto web searches using Natural Language Processing, a subfield of Artificial Intelligence. The optimised search engine results produced by algorithms which index knowledge, were translated into a kinaesthetic vernacular, in a gesture where the verbal collapses meaning onto movement.

To transcend the limitations of language, Beginningless Mind observed the mind as embodied intelligence with porous boundaries. A view of the body as a collective assemblage of social, material and unknowable multitudes, queers the nature-culture divide. Starting where we are, we can begin to refine our consciousness towards universal kinship.

The audiovisual event premiered at andfestival.org.uk/live on Saturday 12 June with an introduction from Lucia Pietroiusti Curator, General Ecology at Serpentine, and was available to watch online until Sunday 11 July 2021.

Score: 33EMYBW and J.G Biberkopf
Choreography: Franka Marlene Foth
Dancers: Janan Laubscher, Camille Jackson, Steph B. Quinci, Dana Pajarillaga, Myriel Welling
Natural Language Processing: Jayson Haebich
Voice: Natasha Kerry
Wardrobe: Ottolinger

Beginningless Mind by Marija Bozinovska Jones was originally commissioned by Abandon Normal Devices, University of Salford Art Collection and Somerset House Studios. Produced by Abandon Normal Devices for AND Festival 2021 and supported using public funding by Arts Council England.

Main image: Photo by Frangipani Beatt