“Express Yourself!” brings together two essential art forms: painting in oils and acrylics, and dance. When we think about how we communicate with one another, we think naturally of the written or spoken word, however, where feelings are concerned or are being expressed, body language is often a far more transparent means of communication. |
In her latest project, artist Jeanette Lotz works with the dancers of the NDT (Nederlands Dans Theatre). Her paintings depict the expression of a feeling through both, body language and the written or spoken word. This way, it becomes painfully clear how big the gap between these two forms of expression can be.
Nowadays, in an attempt to be more efficient, we tend to misuse language. We abbreviate words, sentences and whole messages. In doing so, we often create confusion and frustration. Taking this into account, we can see that the whole ritual of words and deeds which, due to personal engagement, we would once have used to communicate our feelings, has now been reduced to a text message or a one-liner with very little personal involvement. When we meet friends, we spend more time talking about what we did or are planning to do, how tired or busy we are, When it comes to discussing feelings it is often easier to discuss those of a third party than to mention our own, to discuss their lives instead of our own. That would be too personal. Rather than showing our true feelings, we want to be seen in a certain way and we continually try to be true to this image, even in our body language. However, the most distinctive aspect of body language is, that it is forever present. Furthermore, its most intimate communication takes place when we are not even aware of it ourselves.
Nowadays, in an attempt to be more efficient, we tend to misuse language. We abbreviate words, sentences and whole messages. In doing so, we often create confusion and frustration. Taking this into account, we can see that the whole ritual of words and deeds which, due to personal engagement, we would once have used to communicate our feelings, has now been reduced to a text message or a one-liner with very little personal involvement. When we meet friends, we spend more time talking about what we did or are planning to do, how tired or busy we are, When it comes to discussing feelings it is often easier to discuss those of a third party than to mention our own, to discuss their lives instead of our own. That would be too personal. Rather than showing our true feelings, we want to be seen in a certain way and we continually try to be true to this image, even in our body language. However, the most distinctive aspect of body language is, that it is forever present. Furthermore, its most intimate communication takes place when we are not even aware of it ourselves.