Krystle Patel – Hover, horror

A multi-stranded performance that uses the Lepidoptera to explore the violent trap of visibility, presented in partnership with Forma and Goldsmiths Exhibition Hub for the 2024 Goldsmiths’ Alumni Commission Award.

Working with choreography, light, sound and language Hover, horror digs into the machinations of mass media, identity politics and art institutions to reveal what it is to be culturally visible. Harnessing performance as a porous tool, Hover, Horror exposes the structures which govern our ways of seeing and being seen.

Hover, horror is part of an ongoing series developed by Krystle Patel, titled Possession. The project seeks to question how immaterial languages can disrupt euro-centric frameworks, and how movement can be mobilised as a vessel for greater empathy and connection.

This performance will be the culmination of the Goldsmiths’ Alumni Commission Award 2024. Over the last six months, Krystle Patel has received mentoring sessions from members of staff at Forma, LADA and Goldsmiths Exhibitions Hub. Undertaking archival research at LADA, Patel has focused on strategies to destabilise established hierarchies within theatre and performance. Resources and recordings from Oreet Ashery, Jerome Bell and Jacques Rancière were pivotal within the research, as were essays around nationalism and contemporary theatre in India.

Hover, horror contains elements of audience participation. There are two ticket options available, participant and standard. As a participant you will sit in close contact with the performers, you may be asked to hold or move props, and your expressions or movements may be mirrored within the performance.

Please note that the performance will contain flashing lights, address sensitive topics, and use racialised language as a tool to question and explore identity/diasporic experience. Viewers discretion is advised.

The performance will be followed by a short reflection period, to create space for the audience and participants to share their responses to the work.