Body Loss

Beginning at the site of the mouth and expanding out to encompass the entire architecture, Body Loss transforms the limits of the body and the structures that contain it.

‘Somewhere there is a Siren.

Beginning with the utterance of a single note recorded into a looping device, she listens for the return of her own voice. Once heard, she responds with the same note again, and again, echoing herself until these single notes have grown into an endless chorus, a swarm, a sea, a body. Her voices fill the room with an ethereal presence, escaping into the world, untethered. Back on the ground, the body. Her mouth now fixed open in the shape of an ‘O’, as if the chorus of voices is forever streaming out all at once, or like they never came from her, to begin with—as if an unconvincing lip-sync has been revealed and suddenly the synchronisation of body and voice no longer match up—and something is no longer right.’

Created and performed by Angela Goh, Body Loss was acquired by the University of Melbourne in 2024. This performance by the artist marks the first presentation of the work at Buxton Contemporary. Commissioned by Auto Italia, Body Loss has been exhibited in London, Munich, Brussels, Austin, Melbourne, Sydney and Zurich. 

As part of this process, Angela Goh has been teaching the work to Melbourne-based dancers Molly McKenzie and Gemma Sattler. Following Goh’s performance of Body Loss at Buxton Contemporary in May 2024, McKenzie and Sattler’s forthcoming performances celebrate this transmission of embodied knowledge.

About Angela Goh

Angela Goh is an artist who works with dance and choreography. Her work is presented in contemporary art contexts and traditional performance spaces. Angela Goh’s work has recently been presented at a range of institutional venues including Haus der Kunst, Munich, Astrup Fearnley Museet, Oslo, the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, the Sydney Opera House, Sydney, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney, Performance Space New York. Angela Goh lives and works in Sydney, Australia.