aWays to Fathom began as an embodied experiment to wrap our minds around the enormity of the collective grief in the air in the wake of Covid-19. By repeating a gesture of remembrance (sewing a single sequin for each Covid death) we hope to humanize the overwhelming data and to grasp the ongoing impact of our collective loss.
Over the course of the next year, aWays to Fathom will grow to reflect the 21,482 Covid deaths in New England in 2020 and be presented as part of Abridged, an evening length work Monkeyhouse is developing. Inspired by the Dictionary of Negative Space, Abridged looks at our lack of language for death, dying, and loss.
aWays to Fathom is funded by Monkeyhouse’s Covid Collaborations.
Over the course of the next year, aWays to Fathom will grow to reflect the 21,482 Covid deaths in New England in 2020 and be presented as part of Abridged, an evening length work Monkeyhouse is developing. Inspired by the Dictionary of Negative Space, Abridged looks at our lack of language for death, dying, and loss.
aWays to Fathom is funded by Monkeyhouse’s Covid Collaborations.
aWays to Fathom: South Korea Edition
aWays to Fathom: South Korea Edition is the first international iteration of the aWays to Fathom project, showing the 900 Covid deaths in South Korea in 2020.
In 2019 Nicole Harris set _____[279] on her then student, Jane Park, and the ensemble of the Groton School Dance Department. It was created in collaboration with Jane based on conversations about losing of her grandmother. The piece was part of the inspiration for an entry in the Dictionary of Negative Space.
![_____[279] – n. feeling of isolation or disconnection caused by wanting to be with other mourners but being unable to travel to memorial services because of finances, work, school, immigration status, imprisonment, quarantine, etc:
A few months after his sister’s death, the _____[41]‘s father died but he could not afford to fly back to South America again. Intense waves of _____[279] overwhelmed him until he was able to visit his father’s grave.](/uploads/9/5/3/3/9533913/279_orig.png)
When Monkeyhouse was accepted into a show at the CICA Museum in South Korea for aWays to Fathom: South Korea Edition in 2021, karen suggested that we use the 900 sequins that represent the deaths from Covid that country faced in 2020 as the setting for a film version of [279]. Being able to work with Jane had special significance as her family would be able to see the exhibit in Korea.
Thanks to the help of choreographer and dancemaker Brenna Banister, we restaged [279] for film, and thanks to the generosity of Sam Krueger, Laurie Sales, and Brandt Belknap, and the brilliance of Jason Ries’ lighting design aWays to Fathom: South Korea Edition was created.
Thanks to the help of choreographer and dancemaker Brenna Banister, we restaged [279] for film, and thanks to the generosity of Sam Krueger, Laurie Sales, and Brandt Belknap, and the brilliance of Jason Ries’ lighting design aWays to Fathom: South Korea Edition was created.
aWays to Fathom South Korea Edition Credits
Created by
Nicole Harris & karen Krolak
Choreographed by
Nicole Harris in collaboration with Jane Park
Performed by
Jane Park
Music by
Hank Wonder
Lighting Design by
Jason Ries
Created by
Nicole Harris & karen Krolak
Choreographed by
Nicole Harris in collaboration with Jane Park
Performed by
Jane Park
Music by
Hank Wonder
Lighting Design by
Jason Ries
Showings
Upcoming
Special Thanks
- Jane Park
- Laurie Sales & Brandt Belknap
- Sam Krueger
- Miner Nagy Family Gift Fund
- The Dictionary of Negative Space
- Jason Ries
- Darren Buck
- Brenna Banister
- CICA Museum
