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Meet ‘the Conga Line Dancers, the Explorers, the Observers and the Team’. In a vivid and thoughtful interview by Lotte van Geijn. Brought to life with dynamic images by Marieke Gelissen, and beautifully designed across 10 pages by Philip Stroomberg.
Creating to connect. From choir compositions to socks. Explore and shop or contact us for your own inviting Form or meaningful Formations.
I’m Cindy Moorman. Visual artist. Among other things. I call my work Scripted Gatherings. Carefully composed playing fields where I temporarly connect people, objects and ideas. To search for shapes that give form to connection. Because how does connection actually happen? Suddenly there’s something in-between. Like in tug-of-war. But what? When does connection begin or end?
Within my temporary choreographed spaces, I shape every element: from hand-tufted carpets, embroidered sashes and painted scripts to colorful stamps. Each element invites participation—enticing you to think along, search, and engage
Perhaps you’ve already stepped into my work. At the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven, Museum Voorlinden, Museum Arnhem, Paradiso Amsterdam, Kunstverein Ahlen, or elsewhere. Or maybe you’ve heard me speak about it on NPO Radio 4, Kunst is Lang, Amsterdam FM Tenjinyama Studio (JP) or in Het Parool. If so, I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Not yet? Or curious for more? Two of my works: the Conga Line Dancers, the Explorers, the Observers and the Team and the Guide can be seen permanently at Levvel and De Alliantie at Tafelbergweg 8 in Amsterdam. I look forward to crossing paths somewhere along the way.
My ongoing search is regularly made possible with the support of the Mondriaan Fund, Amsterdam Fund for the Arts, Stichting Stokroos, PPO Development Budget, Niemeyer Foundation, Amarte Fund, and many others. Endless thanks to them!
“Cindy Moorman’s art breaks through object-orientation. In her work, the encounter takes centre stage. The visual spectacle may be present, may be seen, but it plays a supporting role.” — Marli Huijer, philosopher
“The performance playfully sharpens the roles of performer, art professional and artwork, in an environment where seeing and being seen is the norm.” — Sanneke Huisman, curator
“She removes the noise and the clutter until an essence remains… fundamental structures become increasingly visible.” — Maaike Lauwaert, curator
“By bringing performers and audience together as representatives of the ‘We’, Moorman succeeds in powerfully visualising the complex phenomenon of group dynamics.” — Jakob Van Den Broucke, writer
“An ode to solidarity: without the collective, the individual would never have broken free.” — Lieneke Hulshof, curator
“The work invites participation, making the audience part of a collective choreography of symbols, light, and sound – until the ‘we’ simply emerges.” — Bob Witman, critic
“You see and hear how a group of people detaches from you, forms itself before your eyes, becomes a unity. Then the realisation dawns that, through their separation, you too are reshaped into a group… Rarely do you experience this so consciously as during a performance by Cindy Moorman.” — Richtje Reinsma, artist
“The uncertainty of connection stands almost in direct contrast to the certainty you create with your scripted gatherings.” — Noor Spanjer, journalist
“Stilled in time, very slow, very gradual. It was a sculpture, a sculptural work.” — Hanne Hagenaars, curator
Creating to connect. From choir compositions to socks. Explore and shop or contact us for your own inviting Form or meaningful Formations.
Are you looking for a stirring lecture, a guided detour, a hands-on workshop or a custom-made collaboration? You’re in the right place. Contact is the first step.
Black waits patiently behind the weave. This custom-made silver pin was created for the Denker der Nederlanden. The handpainted yellow surface represents the tightly woven logic of our shared systems. The black diamond opens a portal into the unknown, the unformed, the space of thought.
With the right collaborators, even the smallest object can hold a world of thought. A small object. A big gesture. Looking for something tailored to your context? Let’s make it matter.
We’re happy to guide you in the right direction. With colourful, inviting sets for our human stage. That offer orientation. This 24-metre-long banner was designed especially for De Tafelberg and its visitors. Commissioned by De Alliantie, this large-scale work offers a bold cue for orientation in a shifting urban environment. Also looking for a guide? Get in touch. Or come see it in person at Tafelbergweg 8, Amsterdam Zuidoost first.
I designed and hand-made a game that turns the roles of artist, artwork and audience into a colourful choreography. Crafted to explore how we relate. Commissioned for CrossYart, this work began with a question: What role do the Others play in my work? And what does that mean for my work and the role I play? Through an abstract playing field, participants are invited to reflect on their own position, role and relation to the artist, and the work. The cards offer footholds. The setup brings clarity. And the act of playing opens space for new language. Curious to create a custom game or collective ritual for your organisation or event? Let’s set the stage together.
How do you find your place within a new community? The residents of De Tafelberg – a former young offender institution converted into a residential complex – can directly engage with this question through Moorman’s work.
Carefully designed socks, a small hand-folded box and a monumental tufted rug are used to introduce four distinct roles within the group dynamic. From conga line dancer and explorer to observer and team player.
The objects jointly form a welcoming gesture, within which form, colour and motion each play a meaningful part. The box, with its concealed message and hand-written signature, marks the ritual of admission.
The socks, with their trademark pattern of white, blue, red and purple dots, visually connect the residents in everyday life.
In the former gym, a monumental rug suspended from a hoist and pulleys descends to the floor, transforming the space into a choreographic playing field. Here, visitors are invited to participate in ‘Breaking out of the Conga Line’: a light-hearted exercise that involves letting go, moving against the tide, keeping your balance and finding your own rhythm within the collective.
Listen to me reading the concealed message out loud
How do you give shape to temporary collective connectedness? In this eight-year case study, Moorman examines the forms and language of connection.
Every year, on the second Sunday of October, the members come together in a specially designed digital clubhouse where only their feet are visible to others. They’re all wearing the same grey socks with blue, red, yellow, black and white dots.
During this gathering, the association focuses on one of its eight tenets, e.g. ‘View red as an infinite enigma’. A colourful ritual, which is actively contributed to by the members: from designing the club logo and sharing reflections to a live family constellation.
For the remainder of the year, the socks sheathing the feet with which we traverse our world serve as a tangible reminder of these interactions. The association will be officially dissolved in 2028 – once its members have dealt with the last of the eight tenets.
What happens when voices blend into euphony? In three choral compositions, Moorman explores aspects of the dynamics of collectiveness.
During the performance, 22 singers seek to find a joint rhythm and merge into a group - which will ultimately break up again. For a full eight minutes, the space is filled with a chord that briefly unites
the individual entities.
Vocal harmony as a living equilibrium, in which individual sounds dissolve in something greater than the whole and nothing can come about without some form of surrender. At the same time, there’s no avoiding the eventual breakdown of this order.
This choral work is a logical follow-up on my performancebased art: in this work, connection is literally shaped in sound, time and space. At the end of the performance, the audience can look back on three abstract translations of something that they were part of, albeit for a fleeting moment - something that then vanished into thin air.
When does an individual become a member of a community? And can both roles exist side by side? This work revolves around a hand-painted blue medallion suspended from a bright yellow cord.
The object contains a rechargeable battery that powers it on whenever you unfasten the lid. Opening the medallion releases the hue and sound of purple: a stately chord recorded by the Van Abbemuseum Choir.
The medallion translates the experience of community into an intimate object that can be worn on your person.
The first edition was presented during This Art Fair, where visitors could experience this communal voice encapsulated in a private object.
How does a temporary We come into being? In four meticulously directed scenes, Moorman takes visitors along in a collective choreography where viewer and participant merge into one.
The underlying scenario is revealed through posters with purple dots pasted on the orange-lit façade. These posters guide the audience into the venue of the gathering, where they are stamped with a fluorescent image.
In the main hall, thirty singers mingling among the attendees proceed to perform one of Moorman’s compositions. While their voices gradually intertwine into a single chord, the space is subsumed in purple light, immersing audience and performers into a shared experience of colour and sound.
The stamped fluorescent image subsequently lights up and the participants leave the space - marked by a fleeting shared moment that briefly lives on on their skin.
How visible is the humanity underlying our structures? This work came out of an engagement with the Stichting Kunst en Openbare Ruimte archives: a decades-old repository of documents relating to public sculpture. Performers and audience initially mingle in the empty exhibition space of Stedelijk Museum Bureau Amsterdam.
The 120 performers are then signalled to cluster into separate groups. Clothed in black, white, blue, red and yellow, they form five base shapes: a sphere, square, cylinder, cone and pyramid. These shapes are erected in silence, only punctuated by the sounds of rustling fabric and shuffling feet. The space is filled with five vulnerable, temporary sculptures.
Whereas most public sculpture claims a permanent location, these living edifices show just how fleeting order can be. After standing for a full four minutes, the formations collapse - with only the memory of their collective structure remaining.
Where you part of a Scripted Gathering? Are you a fan and in need of merchandise? Or you want something unique? We offer different ways to connect via the objects. Find the one that suits you best.
A mug from the Alle Maten sock club. Though the socks are no longer available, this mug offers a daily reminder to step out of the Remote-Controlled Conga Line. Something to hold while the feet keep moving.
A roll of 100 self-adhesive stamps, designed by me. Perfect for letters under 20 grams. These stamps reimagine the ordinary. Claiming space where routine once ruled.
50 pairs of All Sizes socks, worn in yearly digital gatherings. Grey base, bright dots, shared steps. Togetherness in textile form.
People become colour. Dots become structure. This painting captures the fleeting geometry of being together. Just once, just here. An abstract relic of encounter, composed in lacquer and care.
Meet ‘the Conga Line Dancers, the Explorers, the Observers and the Team’. In a vivid and thoughtful interview by Lotte van Geijn. Brought to life with dynamic images by Marieke Gelissen, and beautifully designed across 10 pages by Philip Stroomberg.
Your own wearable emblem for being a part while being apart. At the time of the pandemic, the need arose for an emblem: a symbolic object that connects me to the We beyond our physical encounter. This took shape in a medallion. Your own personal, wearable reminder of the We. Enjoy the We on a daily basis. Alone or with Other(s).
The medallion is blue on the entire outside and can be hung with a yellow cord. The inside is purple. When the medallion is opened the sound of the We is heard. When closing the medallion the chord stops. Inside the locket is a battery that can be wirelessly rechargeable. At 7 cm in diameter and hand-painted, it is truly an eye-catcher. With its aesthetic, it refers to both positions: the I - the blue circle and the We - the two purple circles and the collective sound
A unique object from the playing field. Drawn by hand, this framed work is the only one of its kind. Part of the first choral composition developed for the Van Abbemuseum, this piece holds the memory of a fleeting collective moment, translated into line and colour. A true collector’s item. One edition only.
Listen to a recoring of the compostion performed by the Van Abbemuseumchoir
A unique object from the playing field. Drawn by hand, this framed work is the only one of its kind. Part of the first choral composition developed for the Van Abbemuseum, this piece holds the memory of a fleeting collective moment, translated into line and colour. A true collector’s item. One edition only.
Listen to the composition performed by the Van Abbemuseumchoir for Paradiso
Say hello anytime: info@cindymoorman.nl
Follow the work as it unfolds: instagram.com/cindy_moorman
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