Helices

Binda Movement 5

Helices

July 11–21, 2024

ape Gallery

Northampton, MA

Gallery Hours: Wed–Sun 12-5; Fri: 12-8
Closed Mon & Tues

Opening Fri July 12, 5–8 pm

a shared, spiraling journey of provocation and mutation

Start with Binda, movement 1
Start with Jenny, movement 1
Laugh blood cloud

CREATING
IN SPIRALS

The name Helices, the plural of “helix,” references both the structure of DNA and the word “Ulysses,” the hero of the epic poem The Odyssey. The name was chosen to evoke both a mythic journey and the twining, creative, evolutionary nature of the work. Helices includes 2D and 3D visual art, writing, songwriting, music production, and videography. 

The Artists

12 movements, 2 crossing threads
of provocation & response

The project is structured into twelve movements, each roughly two weeks long. Each movement culminates in a “cross” (the strands of the spiral coming together), where the artists exchange and discuss whatever responses they have created to the previous cross. This process of provocation, response, and switch is repeated each movement.

Movement 1
Jenny

Jenny’s response in movement

1

becomes the provocation for…

Binda’s response in movement

2

which becomes the provocation for…

Movement 2
Binda
Movement 3
Jenny

Jenny’s response in movement

3

and so on

In the meantime, the second helix spirals the other way (Binda 1 > Jenny 2 > Binda 3 > etc.)

Both threads begin with our initial meeting, when Binda first proposed the project.
Here’s how it began

The HELICES PRINCIPLES

“What enlivens you?” can be a radical question. In Helices, we didn’t collaborate on the pieces we made; rather, we collaborated on noticing and practicing the principles that helped us find spaciousness, pleasure, motivation, and accountability in deep creative relationship:
    1. Learn to recognize and follow the sensation of ALIVENESS — your own and others’. truly respecting this sensation is a revolutionary act.
    2. Listen for these sensations with your whole being (not just your thinking mind).
    3. Set a cadence — the rhythm of your working agreement (with yourself and/or others).
    4. Lean into your own weirdness.
    5. Use everything at hand.
    6. It’s okay to not know where you’re going.
    7. Keep showing up. If all you have is resistance and weariness, etc., use it instead of fighting it.
    8. Your mistakes are often juicier than your ideas.
    9. Try a tilt. Change dimension, direction, medium, genre.
    10. Let others inspire you; pay homage & give credit.
    11. When absorbing another’s work, offer sensations rather than suggestions (i.e., no “feedback”).
    12. Share. <3