Interview: Ndoho Ange – Who’s Fear Death
Ndoho Ange is the recipient of our summer moving image commission running from June until the 6th of September 2023, curated by Tony Tremlett and Ruth Waters. The installation, titled Who’s Fear Death, encompasses five new video works exploring identity through dance, poetry, moving image and digital aesthetics.
Who’s Fear Death by Ndoho Ange is Shoreditch Arts Club’s second moving image commission.
The five artworks Are You Afraid, Yoga, Klub, Legba, and Who’s Fear Death, take visitors on a journey with the artist through questioning oneself, explorations of the inner self, and the potential for, in the artists’ words “rebirth and renewal.”
The following interview by the curators, introduces Ndoho Ange and her background, including her ancestry, education, influences, and techniques:
Who’s Fear Death by Ndoho Ange.
Ndoho, would you mind telling us a little bit about yourself?
My name is Ndoho Ange and I'm a dancer and visual artist, often engaging with the sacred concept of self through the lens of digital aesthetics.
I was born in Paris in 1983, but throughout my life I have struggled with my identity due to my mixed heritage, with roots in Gabonese and Guadeloupean cultures.
Finding my place and establishing a sense of belonging hasn’t always been easy. The arts and theory have often helped empower me, especially through the works of Prince, James Baldwin, Gilles Deleuze, Octavia E. Butler, and C.G. Jung. Engaging with their creations often allowed me to embrace the multitude of lands that live within me.
I’m half-autodidact and half-student, and began my practice with hip-hop dance. It’s deeply rooted in me and enabled me to improvise for hours and adapt to any situation.
I don’t really have a specific mentor but I remember encountering a work by [Mark] Chagall during my childhood that had a profound effect on me. My visual practice often draws inspiration from the textures seen in [Gustav] Klimt and the aesthetics of Voodoo art. Moreover, my dreams play a significant role in guiding my creative paths, as I strive to capture and get as close as possible to those experiences.
Who’s Fear Death by Ndoho Ange.
You’ve titled the exhibition Who’s Fear Death. Upon first reading this might come across as unnerving but there’s also a lot of love, desire and renewal in the exhibition, and especially in the work you are showing in the cinema room at Shoreditch Arts Club of the same title. Could you tell us a bit about this title and what you are showing for Shoreditch Arts Club’s second moving image commission?
The process of titling my work has always posed a challenge for me. I am often drawn towards numbers or, conversely, texts or poems. However, this particular instance proved to be different. To assist me in capturing the main film for the exhibition in the Cinema Room I sought the help of my talented filmmaker friend, Raphael Stora. He shot me dancing in-front of a horse-human figure that I found in an abandoned space in Paris, and I wore these white contact lenses in my eyes. Here I began exploring death through my movements, perceiving everything around me full of dust and sand, and I felt deeply alone with my thoughts, breaths and memories. When we finished shooting I was still shaking from what I had just experienced, and with a really loud voice I said “Okay, the title of the exhibition is ‘Who’s Fear Death’.”
It’s true, the title could be disconcerting or even disturbing, but from my perspective rooted in African and Caribbean traditions; death represents an opportunity for families to come together and honour the memories of those who have shared our lives. It encompasses moments filled with laughter, tears, songs, and music. By paying tribute to their memory, we allow the deceased to peacefully depart from this physical world.
For this exhibition, my approach was more concerned with my own immaterial death. I regarded my body and thoughts as my own wake, akin to a funeral where we lay people to rest. I chose to bury past experiences, friendships, lovers, triumphs, failures, and even preconceived notions of myself in an immaterial cemetery. By honouring and thanking them, I have the opportunity to be reborn anew.
Who’s Fear Death by Ndoho Ange.
You’re a dancer first and foremost, and have more recently begun working with video, poetry and photography where movement remains at its centre. Can you tell us about this transition, and what excites you about working with video in particular?
Explaining this transition is difficult, but I believe it's akin to falling in love with someone — you just follow your heart and your feelings!
As a dancer, each time you perform the same dance piece, the feelings are never the same. It's a play between differences and repetitions.
As a viewer, if you miss a dancer's movement, you can’t go back since that movement has already passed, making space for new movements to emerge. What fascinates and excites me about visual arts is the ability to go back and manipulate time and perspective. I can focus on a detail, pause it, and go back over it.
I decided to learn Argentic photography about fifteen years ago. I was curious about my “third eye”, which at the time was my Nikon fm2 camera. It felt like a healing process to accept my body and the perception I had of myself with a camera.
Initially my work was more figurative, with myself as the central focus, existing within my persona archetype. However as time went on I began to explore and align with the aesthetics of my inner world—dreams, trance, consciousness, and the essence of identity from within, and things began to get more abstract.
I am currently working on a jazz project with my dancing and the project's lead Hamid Drake asked me to use my voice, so I started writing what I call "poem mantras." It's still fresh to my practice, but it also marks the beginning of a long love story I guess.
My video work came much later than photography, I mean it took time to embrace that part of me. It was during the lockdown when all my dance performances were postponed that I took it more seriously. I wanted to create new things because my mind was a mess. I wanted to dance but my body was saying “no”, so I made myself dance through my video. What fascinated me was the infinite possibilities of choreography and movement in video — the repetitions, the changes in perspective. But above all, what I loved most is the ability to play with the sense of time.
Many of your videos incorporate film footage of yourself, and they also employ a lot of grainy texture, reminiscent of interference, almost as if you’re unveiling unseen frequencies beyond the confines of the camera or screen. Can you tell us about how you make these works and your choice for this distinctive aesthetic?
One of my secret dreams is to become a painter, and I find myself drawing a lot before creating visual or movement-based works. I started with self-portraits which I think is at the root of most of my visual practice; something I’m constantly exploring in order to discover more about myself.
I’m drawn to dirty images, which are glitchy and buggy, and that are not so clear. This is what really opens the door to the imagination for me.
To create this aesthetic I employ numerous techniques. Digital painting, creative coding, and mixing photography with video all play a role. I enjoy playing with time and perception through these ways. It’s a bit like cooking, I use different spices to find the taste I want without really knowing it. If you went into my laptop you’ll find an image or video that unfolds over several forms. It's great because the possibilities seem so infinite on the computer.
Who’s Fear Death by Ndoho Ange.
Who’s Fear Death comprises five new video works on five large projection screens. How did you approach the space and the five big screens?
I envisioned a ritualistic experience for the exhibition, beginning with an opening sequence titled "Are You Afraid” on the screen closest to the entrance. This work serves as a dialogue between myself and my inner self, questioning whether I harbour any fears. Questions like: Am I afraid? If so, of what? Am I afraid of myself?
On the upper floor, you'll find three screens displaying the films "Yoga," "Klub," and “Legba," which I see as the necessary steps as part of a personal ritual to access who I am. They serve as reflections of my immaterial essence, where dreams, the unseen realm, and internal musings intertwine to shape identity. That is why these films feature text, grainy aesthetics, and distorted notions of time.
Lastly, the "Who's Fear Death" cinema work serves as a space for accepting my own image. My reflection is portrayed in a still, horse-headed woman figure with whom I engage in a dance, facilitating my rebirth and renewal.
Who’s Fear Death is on show at Shoreditch Arts Club until the 6th of September 2023.
