Following the international success of their acclaimed duet Slip, Rebecca Jensen and Aviva Endean continue their collaborative exploration with Slop, a visceral sequel that plunges into a submerged, murky world of sound and movement that premieres at Northcote Town Hall Arts Centre. If Slip was about falling out of sync with reality, Slop revels in the overspill.
Part of Darebin Arts Speakeasy, Slop explores a world saturated by digital excess, consumption, and environmental precarity, conjuring an unstable, gurgling terrain of bodies and sound. A digesting of our present moment and a confrontation with the invisible systems that ensnare us, the work asks the questions: Who do we trust? How do we make sense of non-sense?
Conceived in 2024 before Slop became the word of the year, the work considers the cultural atmosphere of “AI slop”, acknowledging the recent flood of confusing signals that shape contemporary perception. Within this messy, boggy terrain, the artists explore entanglement, attention, deep listening, and deep watching.
This new performance work draws audiences into a nexus where bodies and sonic textures entangle, creating a dynamic environment that is both unsettling and curiously moving – finding meaning in senselessness and beauty in what could be perceived as disgusting or stupid.
Jensen and Endean have developed a reputation for bold interdisciplinary work that pushes the boundaries between performance, music and live art. This new work extends their formal investigations and further develops the leftovers (the slop) from touring and developing Slip, while responding to a shifting cultural landscape. Slop deliberately foregrounds both artists, visually and conceptually, challenging the convention of a single lead voice and collapsing the roles of dance and music.
On stage, tactile materials such as mud and water generate unpredictable environments for sound and movement. As the performance unfolds, these materials are manipulated live, transforming foley techniques into an immersive, evolving composition.
May 13 – 23
