Orpheus and Eurydice

Orpheus and Eurydice, 2019

Video installation

LED screen

London Coliseum

The bridging point between Baroque and the new vivid dramatic works of the classical period, Gluck’s melodies helped secure the Orpheus myth as one of the cornerstones of opera. Williams created a video installation as part of Wayne McGregor’s production of the opera, an exploration of grief and loss in the human body. The installation, consisting of a semi-transparent kinetic LED screen, displayed video works that Williams created in response to this series of transitional psychological states: mourning, violence, love and death. Each work explores the fluid and undefined relationships we, as humans have towards these states. Each also questions whether experiencing these states is essential to being human and to what extent they are a catalyst for a transformative process. Through the projection of light from the LEDs uncertain spatial relationships are created between the altered physical space and the internal embodied experience.