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Maureen Jonker is an artist based in the Netherlands. She explores the possibilities of arranging the human body in ever-changing spaces and situations. This interest stems from a sport she has practiced for several years – synchronized swimming. Direct references to synchronized swimming do not lie at the surface of her work. However, the urge to create choreographies almost always stimulates the underlying motive.

The motion of movement

My residency research started in the streets of Tokyo. I end up bumping into smoking zones and their specific ways of entering and exiting, the use of arrows in combination with words on stairs and in public spaces, signing in nature, particular ways of bowing, and the non-logical usage of stairs and escalators. My all-time favorite discovery? The manuals for everything that needs a visual description, particularly the card with ‘manners’ on the public toilets.

After collecting a lot of public organizations, I looked into Japanese dance and theater. I had to get familiar with the traditional Japanese performing arts where the distinction between dance and theater is narrow. However, after watching a few traditional and non-traditional pieces and following a traditional dance class, I embraced the typical Japanese performing style. I was touched by the effort the performers put into a piece to perform it perfectly. It differed from what I used to; moving was not based on counting but on the spoken word.

Definition of Motion: ‘The action or process of moving or changing place or position; movement’. 1

All the examples above are a certain definition of movement and motion.2 Whenever it is written in a manual or organized by stairs and concrete walls, it requires moving in a specific way to accomplish an action. These tools and specific public space organizations are designed to clarify movements and navigate people to their next destination. They ask for a change in place, position, or body (part) from one location to another, aware or unaware movement.
 
With a background in artistic swimming, I’m used to thinking in formations, movements, and group synchronization. Both discoveries in public spaces and my way of thinking formed a clear starting point for the residency conclusion. In this workshop, the participation of the audience stood central.

The Movement Library

In the workshop, participants were invited to contribute ‘movements’. The workshop consists of a motion-sharing system where participants cooperatively create movements. The participants were asked to draw or make a collage about daily proceedings. After finishing those concepts, without verbal communication, other participants interpret these drawings and translate them into movements. Those movements and drawings were added to my movement database: The Movement Library. The workshop was created with the following questions as a background: How is communication possible when you don’t speak the same language? How do we communicate without verbal communication? How can we translate stationary movement into motion? Besides being creative and having fun, connecting to another person was the most important part of the workshop.

After finishing the workshops, I understood it was the beginning of a new research path in my artistic practice. I’m super happy to tell you that this research will be continued. The first opportunity to see this research translated into an installation is at  the following venue in Eindhoven. There also will be a workshop schedule, which will be announced soon.

Venue:Temporary Art Center Eindhoven (TAC)
Address: Nul Zes, Gasfabriek 3a, 5613 CP, Eindhoven, NL
Dates: 31st August – 1st September and 7th– 8th September 2024

A warm thanks to the complete AIT team for guiding me through Tokyo (and beyond) and taking me to all the exhibitions, performances, and dance classes. Thanks to the dancers I worked with during my residency. Thanks to everyone I’ve met during my residency. It was super interesting and inspirational to talk to all of you. And last but not least, dank je wel to the Mondriaan Fund for making things financially possible. みなさん、ありがとございました！

To be continued.

Maureen was an artist in residence at AIT from February until April 2024. More information? During her residency, she created a website where she collected different components related to her research. This is an ongoing (digital) space where she adds and changes footage, that can be translated as a website in motion: http://www.motionofmovement.com

^[1] Dictionary.com, (2024), [online], https://www.dictionary.com/browse/motion#

^[2] Motion implies changing position without intention. It describes the physical properties of moving. It is normally emphasising something is not stationary, rather than commenting on where it is going.

Movement implies the qualities of moving. If a person is moving, they will almost always be using movement, not motion. If moving is deliberate, it is movement. Movement is also used when the important factor is going from one place to another, whereas motion is used to describe something not being still.

Martha Ryan, (2023), [online], https://www.ukentry.com/difference-between-movement-and-motion.html