2019. Lecture performance, 45 minutes.

Chained to the Rhythm is a tongue-in cheek performance lecture that uses pop songs about rhythm to interrogate a tension in the notion of rhythm: rhythm is both a natural process (our bodies are regulated by heartbeats and breaths), and yet the rhythms of work and labour are often violently imposed on us by our present economic order. Samples from ‘lowbrow’ hits are treated as serious lessons about the discipline imposed on the subject by the neoliberal order. Is there an escape from the endless demand to be productive? Is there an alternative “Rhythm of the Night”, as the early 90s Eurodance group Corona claims? Could rhythm ever be a “dancer”, as Snap! promises?

The work premiered at SEVENTH Gallery in 2019, co-presented by SEVENTH Gallery and Liquid Architecture. It was proudly supported by the City of Yarra, through the Small Project Grants Program.