Last month we told you about Benedetto Bufalino, an experiential French artist who transformed a cement mixer into a giant rotating disco ball at a construction site in Lyon, France. The ubiquitous rotating mirrored spheres are the focal point of Never Stop Dancing, a heartfelt homage to the 49 victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting, presented by Brooklyn artist Phoenix Lindsey-Hall. The 49 porcelain disco balls that make up Never Stop Dancing will each be illuminated with light and suspended at various heights from the ceiling of the darkened gallery, casting shadows and invoking reflection.
Over email, Lindsey-Hall, whose artwork centers on violence in queer communities, told us about the inspiration behind the large-scale installation.
“Never Stop Dancing explores the disco ball as an omnipresent observer. On any given Saturday night, it bears witness to dancing, passion and the celebration of community in a safe space. During the chaos and horror of the Pulse nightclub shooting, these moons hung heavy above the dance floor, spinning slowly and reflecting the scene back to us.
“I went to the Stonewall Inn the day after the Orlando shooting. As the birthplace of queer rights in America, it is often a gathering place during times of tragedy. Amidst the piles of flowers and candles of the make shift memorial was a small note someone had written which read, ‘Never Stop Dancing.’ That beautiful statement encompassed all I was feeling.
“Queer people have a unique relationship to violence, often through personal experiences and certainly historically. One of the interesting byproducts of the Orlando shooting is that the mainstream culture is now openly talking about a pain that queer people have always known privately.”
Never Stop Dancing runs January 6 through February 12 at Victori + Mo in Brooklyn, NY.
Phoenix Lindsey-Hall
Never Stop Dancing 2017
49 illuminated, slip cast porcelain disco balls
Installation
Courtesy of the artist and Victori + Mo