Leviathan on my dance floor | Meghadityo Banerjee

LEVIATHAN, ON MY DANCE FLOOR?

Q- “SO, WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?”

A - “PLEASE. PLEASE. PLEASE. PLEASE.”

MM-HMM- TOO PROUD FOR THAT. PROUD TO A DETRIMENT. BUT WOULD TAKE YOUR HAND IF YOU OFFERED IT.

INFORMATION- STRAIGHT FROM MY DANCE FLOOR TO YOU(RS?) YOU ARE WELCOME.

1. SHAME- ‘DEFEAT’ IN THE COLLECTIVE’S EYES.

‘COWARD’ IN THE COLLECTIVE’S EYES.

THE REPEATS IN MY PSYCHE, THE HAUNTINGS.

2. SILENCE- CONFIDENCE, FAITH… IN STRATEGY. GRADUALLY BUILT UP. DON’T WORRY- NOBODY STARTS OUT KNOWING EVERYTHING, SO SPARE YOURSELF THE BEATING. YOUR BASKET OF SHAME WON’T BE SMALL,

REMEMBER?

REMEMBER- ‘LOVE ME SOME DISCOUNTS.’

STRATEGY? MEASURABLE PROOF. A MAGICAL FIRST TIME.

RECOGNIZING THE SOMETIMES FOLLY INEFFICIENCY OF A FIGHT FORCE. WORSHIP WIT- MY GIFT FROM GOD.

3. UNDERSTANDING- HMMM. FAITH IN THE COLLECTIVE,

DESPITE THEIR BLINDNESS.

DESPITE OUR DISTANCE.

BECAUSE NOT UNDERSTANDING IS NATURAL FOR THEM. I REVERE WHAT’S NATURAL. FALSE CONCLUSIONS- MM,HMM.

ACHIEVING DISTANCE FROM MY SELF, FROM MY EMOTIONS, IF, AND WHEN, IS A GIFT I CHERISH. VOLATILITY, DOUBT, AND DISTRESS- THEY LOSE TO THE STRENGTH OF MY CLARITY, OF MY UNDERSTANDING.

UNDERSTANDING- IT’S A POSITION OF RATIONALE,

BUT ALSO LOVE.

I FOUND IT FOR OTHERS BECAUSE I HAVE NOT KNOWN ITS SCARCITY.

MOM- THANKS FOR NEVER SETTING.

IN MY CLARITY, I FIND EVERYONE WITH ME, OUR DISTANCE ONLY CEREBRAL AND EXPERIENTIAL,

NOT IN PRINCIPLE, NOT IN OUR CAPACITIES FOR EMPATHY. OR TRUST. IN EACH OTHER.

NOT UNDERSTANDING IS NOT NOT BEING ON YOUR SIDE! EMOTIONAL INFERENCES CLOUD TRUTH.

MALADAPTIVE? LET’S CALL IT ‘HUMAN.’

WHY?

I DON’T HOLD YOU RESPONSIBLE TO SEE TRUTH. I WELCOME YOU. “THEY DON’T DESERVE IT,” “UNFAIR FOR THEM”- LET’S KEEP WHAT OTHERS DESERVE ASIDE.

YOU DESERVE IT.

4. MY WATER-FILLED SINK- THE DIVING REFLEX- PLAYING

DOCTOR DOCTOR. TILL I COULD BREATHE AGAIN.

BUT THE PAIN, THE SURPRISE OF IT, BECAUSE IT’S BEEN YEARS. IT’S RESOLVED. BUT I LEARNT IT ATTAINS ONLY

DORMANCY. NOT EXTINCTION.

I HAVE A SINK STOPPER THIS TIME. IT WILL WORK. GREAT COMPANY, YOU KNOW. ONLY COMPANY.

5. SINGING MYSELF LULLABIES. PRESERVATION AS INTERNAL. MIND AS FILM NEGATIVE.

LIFE IS LARGER THAN IDENTITY, BUT THE PAIN WAS STILL

BLINDING. PART OF IT WAS MY PARENT’S GIFT TO ME AT BIRTH- SO THE THOUGHT OF LOSING IT WAS... A LADY ASKED ME TO WEAR IT, INSCRIBED, ON A BRACELET ON MY WRIST. NEVER HAD TO- I STILL HAVE IT. IN A SECRET DUNGEON LIKE BLIGHTON’S FAMOUS FIVE? HALF, OR NOT- IT’S A VICTORY.

THE SNAKE SENTENCED ME. BUT DAMN, WHERE WENT

THE ALPHABETS?

6. THEN CAME DESSERT. YOU REMEMBER EMMA WATSON’S 18TH BIRTHDAY PRESENT?

HERE’S A SKILLFUL DANCE MOVE- FAKING FEAR CAN SOMETIMES BE AN INVALUABLE STRATEGY TO AVOID PENALTIES

OF HAVING FEARLESSNESS AND PERSONAL POWER.

WITH A GUN HELD TO YOUR FOREHEAD, PLEASE,

PLEAAASE- BLINK! AND SHOW SOME FEAR. BEG?

STRATEGY DOESN’T SHOW WHO YOU ARE, JUST WHAT YOU DO (PFFT!) HOW YOU DANCE.

‘AIN’T-A-FIGHTER.’ DON’T LISTEN TO THAT.

I KNOW A STRATEGIST ISN’T A COWARD.

I AM NOT A COWARD.

BUT DO I KNOW?

ALL THE TIME?

I WANT TO HEAR IT, FROM YOUR LIPS. THEY DON’T TELL IT TO ME. THEY CAN’T. THEY ARE YOUNG.

AND SHOULD I TRY TO EXPLAIN, I WILL HAVE TO PLAY DOCTOR-DOCTOR, DIVING-DIVING, AT THE SINK AGAIN.

PLEASE.

SO HERE I AM, DANCING BALLET WITH THE SNAKE,

I SHOOT IT NOT- THAT’S NOT MY ART,

IT'S NOT MY STYLE.

THINKING OF ANNEKE LUCAS. INGE LOTZ.

I WON. I LOST TOO.

BUT I WON IN BOTH VICTORY,

AND DEFEAT.

LIFE. LOVE. LAUGHTER. I CARRY THEM GOODIES ALL ON A SLING, AND THE SNAKE KNOWS NOT. I STAY FULL.

THE SNAKE TEACHES ME TO DANCE, NOT TO SHOOT, BUT IT’S ALWAYS HUNGRY.

AND I DON’T MIND NOTICE.

I AM JUST AN ATTENTIVE DANCER.

THE ANSWER- “NOTHING.” BECAUSE IT’S EVERYTHING.

I AM ALIVE, AND IT’S MY PARTY EVERYDAY.

OF COURSE, A SOLITARY ONE. YOU HAVEN’T COME.

BUT NO LESS INSIGNIFICANT.

Context and Introductory background

Leviathan on my dance floor is Meghadityo Banerjee's text-based and performative piece about the tried and tested effectiveness of strategy and wit when it comes to dangerous power encounters in one's lifetime, be it with institutions, organizations, businesses, or individuals. He urges one to consider the value of creating and powerfully holding cerebral distance from oneself, one's emotions and one's problems to realize the true power and potential of the human spirit to defeat even 'the impossible' with nothing but intelligence.

The work is a four-page poem installed with a video of the artist's self-performance of it. The serious tone of the text on the wall is a stark contrast to the sometimes hilarious, playful performance of the artist snacking on cookies on video. Some tragedies are after all comedies too, especially when we choose to change our frame of reference, something the artist passionately encourages.

A 'references' folder opens up the work formalistically in a gallery space, offering more accessibility into the work to interested viewers, while not compromising the artist's philosophy of having some opacity to prevent casual viewing of 'the intimate.' From research on the diving reflex's use in psychotherapy to reduce panic attacks to Emma Watson’s 18th 'birthday present' of photographers releasing her upskirt pictures on the web, from Anneke Lucas's story of surviving a child sex trafficking ring involving eminent Belgian politicians (whom she didn't name for decades until recently) to the story of Inge Lotz's murder prosecution case- the reference list is vast and varied like the intellectual and internet curiosities of the artist.