EP 033: MADELINE HOLLANDER

Image Culture

Artist, choreographer, and dancer Madeline Hollander has a unique way of looking at the world. While creating her performances she never invents new movements. Instead, she’s always pulling from what she observes in the world. She has the amazing ability to isolate the ways we move our bodies in very specific contexts and use these movements as the building blocks for a sequence. For instance, she talks about the specific way our body twitches when we’re playing a pinball machine, the ways we’ve learned to interact with a touch screen, or even the set of movements required to perform the Heimlich maneuver. Beyond that, she also looks at the way our movements manifest themselves in larger systems, such as traffic patterns in New York or the motion of tug boats along the Hudson River. These things have their own ebbs and flows that she samples in her work and applies on a human scale.

One of the most interesting aspects of Madeline’s practice is its diversity. She can be found staging performances with LA Dance Project or showing an installation of programmed car tail lights at Bartolami Gallery or even serving as the moment director on Jordan Peele’s latest film Us.

Her way of understanding human movement is something that crosses traditional boundaries within the art world. The sensitivity of her eye for body language and gestures coupled with her background in traditional ballet makes her a unique voice working today.

You can see more of Madeline’s work at www.madelinehollander.com

Her installation Heads/Tails can be viewed at www.bortolamigallery.com/exhibitions/heads-tails/

You can find more information on Madeline’s work and performance at The Whitney at https://whitney.org/watchandlisten/44000