The Everythingists, Es Devlin

According to artist Es Devlin ‘The Firebird is a story about human hubris in relation to technology…we seek to capture the mythic bird always out of reach, we keep living in the future tense…yet life is only ever available in the present.’  

For this installation, Devlin drew and painted the movements of east London-based dancer Joshua Shanny-Wynter performing in dialogue with artist Natalia Goncharova’s The Firebird Shanny-Wynter leaps and tumbles through a series of boxes echoing the architecture of composer Igor Stravinsky’s musical score for The Firebird, storage crates used throughout V&A East Storehouse and the evolving cityscape of east London. 

The term ‘everythingism’ was used to describe Goncharova’s painting, theatre design and performance art. It can also be applied to Devlin’s own practice encompassing stage design, sculpture, music, poetry, painting and more.