Dancing The Tree is a 2023 Melbourne Fringe Festival art installation, a poetic portrait mirroring ourselves as unique individuals within the urban arena.
Based on Rovay’s current artworks and subject matter, the film (viewed from the Richardson Street footpath) gravitates towards a distinct tree on the nature strip. Articulating identity within the local space, this Video Artwork has become an incubator for expressing new ideas.
The critical factor with these singular trees is that they do not demand any of our attention. Instead, they are silently humble on the footpath. The eight artworks along McGregor Street are either in the film or have been informed by the film.
With a trusted botanist plant identifier app, Rachel’s walks near the Rovay Gallery and Studio have given her a deeper insight into the local nature strip. With such focus on the subject matter, she began identifying with each ‘random’ tree and its traits. Each tree presented a symbolic human characteristic of resilience, replenishment, regeneration, and adaptability.
Dancing The Tree film celebrates through the metaphoric lens of art a re-weaving of the fabric of our existence.
Rovay had the great pleasure of collaborating with - John Hipwell S.P.A, producer, - Shenella De Silva, Sound Designer and - Joyce Kwan, editor. Through fine art and film, the creative team brought the unremarkable nature strip into a remarkable spotlight that conjures a profound metaphor between each tree and our human uniqueness.
Please take inspiration from each tree near you and know that if it can survive against the many obstacles, so can we who are presented with different levels of challenge in our lives.
