A wonderful video installation called Slow Dancing is now running at the Lincoln Center Festival in New York. Five second clips of dancers in action (ballet, tap, flamenco, break dancing, capoeira, etc) have been slowed down to last between eight and 12 minutes. Because they are shot in high-definition, that means you can watch a single strand of hair fly through the air or a gesture ripple through a hand finger by finger. Some feel this creates a new art form. The dancers feel amazed, perplexed and strangely vulnerable. The curator talks about the beauty unleashed when we decelerate long enough to take in the details: “What the dancers’ being slowed down does is to reveal all of these beautiful, subtle changes in faces and bodies. This camera allows us to read moments that pass so quickly they don’t register.”
Month: July 2007
Slow down with a siesta
Today is National Siesta Day in Britain! And siestas are the ultimate expression of Slow. Taking a post-prandial snooze seems like heresy in our fast-forward culture, but actually it’s very good for you. It can boost productivity by over 30% and almost double your alertness. It can also enhance memory and concentration, reduce stress and the risk of heart disease by 34%. It can even help you lose weight. So what are you waiting for? I’ve just finished lunch and that means one thing: zzzzzzzzz
Slow eating?
Did you hear about the speed-eating champion from Japan? Takeru Kobayashi, 29, has been blowing away the competition for years, hoovering up hot dogs, rice balls and cow brains in record time. But all that guzzling recently caught up with the man some describe as the Tiger Woods of speed-eating. He has developed arthritis of the jaw, which I suppose is the same as Roger Federer coming down with tennis elbow. Last week he lost his crown to a rival from (where else?) the United States.