A exploration of movement, play, materiality and impermanence in Portsmouth

As part of the Motus Lab, alongside Luke Brown, Sasha Biloshisky Col.Creatives and a collective of movement artists and creatives, I explored the art of improvisation and spontaneous creation within the incredible environment of the Luminarium, designed by Architects of Air.

The Luminarium itself is a temporary work of art, an inflatable architectural structure filled with colour, light, air and sculptural forms. Entering this space became an opportunity to explore the idea of creating within someone else's creation, responding to an artwork that is itself temporary, constantly changing and eventually disappearing.

My exploration began with grounding myself in the space, taking time to observe, listen and experience the environment through the senses. The sounds of air moving through the structure, the softness and tension of its surfaces, the changing colours, textures and light all influenced how I moved and interacted with my surroundings. Rather than imposing choreography onto the space, I wanted to allow movement to emerge from the experience of being within it.

Using a small round latex ball, I began investigating the relationship between my body, the object and the surrounding architecture. Rolling, balancing, leaning, shifting weight and experimenting with different points of contact became ways of understanding the materials around me. The contrast between the firmness of the body, the elasticity of the object and the soft, inflated surfaces of the Luminarium created opportunities for playful movement and experimentation.

Working independently, I also encountered other artists within the space, allowing moments of shared movement, interaction and connection to happen naturally. These encounters became part of the improvisation, exploring how individuals can create together without a predetermined outcome, through curiosity, observation and responding to one another.

Photography and moving image became another layer of the creative process, allowing me to record and explore the shapes, interactions and temporary compositions that emerged. The camera was not simply documenting the experience but became a way of observing how bodies, objects, colour and architecture came together to create fleeting visual moments

At the centre of this exploration was the idea of impermanence. The Luminarium exists only for a limited time, held together by air, its form dependent on something invisible and constantly moving. In the same way, improvised dance creates moments that cannot be repeated in exactly the same way. A shape, a connection, a moment of balance or an interaction exists briefly before transforming into something else.

The lab became an investigation into how we inhabit and respond to an environment, how different materials influence movement, and how play can become a method of artistic research. By creating within an existing artwork, I was interested in the relationship between the artist, the body and the space, and how temporary encounters can generate new forms of expression.