Metacognitive Tool
2016 - ongoing
Monika Dorniak – Metacognitive Tool (2016-2021), Haus der Statistik, 2021, Performer: Ann Francis Ang
Dance performance
Wearable sculptures
Video art
Duration: 30-40 min.
Premiered at The Performance Studio in London (2016)
Previously performed/exhibited at:
︎Arts Catalyst (2016)
︎Lethaby Gallery (2016)
︎em-em, THECUBE (2017)
︎TERRA FIRMA Magazine (2017)
︎Down/Under Gallery (2017)
︎Salve Berlin (2018)
︎48 Stunden Neukoelln (2019)
︎Haus der Statistik (2021)
In the solo performance Metacognitive Tool, the dancer explores the anthropocentric paradox of humanity's position within nature and outside of it. The score is inspired by the artists research on the symptoms of Solastalgia – the alienating feeling towards our accelerated environment. Working with a wearable sculpture, the dancer embodies the state of the sea-creature (Pikaia) 500 million years ago, and morphes into the physical form of the homo sapiens around 300.000 years ago, before arriving at the present anthropocentric state of being 'homo sapiens sapiens'. Analysing the era of the Anthropocene critically, the performance aims to address the oppression of the nature-human-connection and their impact on the traumatised human and more-than-human landscapes.
Choreography / Costume / Art direction: Monika Dorniak | Performers: Ann Francis Ang, Lingji Hon, Alice Weber, Beccy Korang | Soundartist: Reece Cox
Choreography / Costume / Art direction: Monika Dorniak | Performers: Ann Francis Ang, Lingji Hon, Alice Weber, Beccy Korang | Soundartist: Reece Cox


Monika Dorniak – Metacognitive Tool (2016-2021), 48 Stunden Neukölln, 2019, Performer: Lingji Hon

Film still from Metacognitive Tool (2016), London