Eyes on Me is Hawk Dance Theatre's latest project; an artistic exploration considering how we interact online. Through a collaboration of dance and poetry, of movement and spoken word, we imagined the five senses in an online realm.

During an initial research and development phase, Hawk Dance Theatre led by Director Josh Hawkins, collaborated with a range of collaborators, artists, participants and contributors to begin the process of a new work. 

ABOUT THE WORK:

Sound becomes Noise. The copious distractions we have when we are using our phones. A notification, a message thread, a new post. The timeline of a conversation is constantly disjointed, overwhelming at times, and takes much longer than face to face. Do we ever truly hear each other if we’re reading and not listening? We explore this through a mundane conversation most people are likely to have experienced. A group chat to make plans, but the plans rarely actually happen.


Smell becomes Trail. How quick our gut reactions are to follow links and clickbait, snoot on strangers and celebrities, find out more. Everything on the internet is a link to something else. Then on some occasions we see something which stops us in our tracks, causes a guttural reaction we can’t simplify to a like or crying face. A never ending trail...


Taste becomes Choice. We are bombarded with options to buy, watch, follow. We’ve become savvy to presenting multiple versions of ourselves, finding the best deal, always knowing the answer. When creating an online identity, there is nothing to stop us from inventing a new life or personality; we can be whoever we want to be... sometimes this can be liberating. It is always interchangeable. In this work, we explore how easily things can be swapped out and narratives can be rewritten; you can be a chef and choose your own ingredients.


Sight becomes Filter. Selfies, selfies and more selfies. We are pressured to present the best version of ourselves online. To have perfect, unmockable lives. There is something ritualistic about taking a selfie for the sole purpose to post online. The piece explores the intricacies of this routine, and the underlying emotional vulnerability of seeking validation online.


Touch remains Touch. We send each other emojis, use words to articulate how we long to touch someone, but there is no exact online equivalent. This final work, TOUCH, is a celebration and a reminder of the physical us.

Watch all the videos here

Funded by 

Arts Council England

Supported by

Spin Arts, The University of Salford.

Collaborators

Spoken word by Charley Genever
Composer and sound design by Richard Smithson
Film and edit by Howl Creative
Featuring: Helen Andrew, Josh Wild, Dom Coffey, Emily Barber.

Directed and Choreographed by

Josh Hawkins

Using Format