geology of longing
dance film series
2023—present
ABOUT
Geology of Longing is a series of five experimental dance films in which I trace my late father’s geological research across the globe, investigating the ways the human body and the planet preserve memories of life after death. With each film, I travel to five geological sites that my father, Dr. Gautam Sen, studied over the span of his career as a geologist. Each piece is a chapter that mirrors one of the five stages of grief and responds to the geological phenomena of the places where he lived and worked. For the series, I have crafted original scripts and fluxus scores that combine poetry and personal reflections with language from his academic research. Working with musicians and dancers from my community, each film relies on original music and choreography to offer a different dimension to the scope of grief and its marks on the body and the landscape. The work compares geological formations to internal trauma while interrogating why we travel to gravesites and embark on pilgrimages. Each film offers a hallucinogenic and deeply felt inquiry into the question: What is it about a location that preserves the soul of another? Weaving together film, movement, and operatic improvisation, Geology of Longing is an ode to the seismic impact of grief – in the body, in the earth, and beyond.
The first two of the five films have been completed and are included below — Grief Tectonics (2024) and This Porous Earth (2023).
This work has received support from Oolite Arts with the Ellies Creator Award (2022), and has been featured in the Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami (2024-2025); the Aspen Ideas Festival (2024); Drew University (2023); and ScreenDance Miami (2022).
grief tectonics
2024
Trailer of the film, Grief Tectonics (2024).
Premiered at the Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami (2024-2025) as a part of Sen’s solo exhibition, Embodied. Directed and choreographed by Smita Sen. Starring Shereen Saif and Smita Sen. Director of Photography, Bilal Bashir. Original score by Roshni Samlal. Edited by Smita Sen.
images
This Porous Earth
2023
This Porous Earth (2023)
Directed and choreographed by Smita Sen. Director of Photography: Carol Nuñez. Original Score by Dion Kerr. Editor: Smita Sen.
Premiered at the Korn Gallery at Drew University as part of artist’s solo exhibition, Grief Body Semiotics (2023).
SCREENINGS & EXHIBITIONS
This Porous Earth (2023) and Grief Tectonics (2024) were both installed in the solo museum exhibition, Smita Sen: Embodied, at the Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami from November 2024 to April 2025. Curated by Adeze Wilford.
SELECTED PRESS
Smita Sen's 'Embodied' at MOCA North Miami Documents the Intangible, Sophie Bress (The Observer, 2024).
A Guide to the Best Shows in Miami, Monica Uszerowicz (Frieze, 2024).
Dance Performances, Festivals, and More Coming this Fall, Margaret Fuhrer (The New York Times, 2024).
Smita Sen Makes Performance Art Relatable at MOCA, Mario Rodriguez (Miami New Times, 2024).
This Porous Earth (2023) installed in the solo exhibition, Grief Body Semiotics, at Drew University in Fall 2023. Curated by Ryan Woodring.
SELECTED PRESS
Grief Body Semiotics: Interview with Smita Sen by Cat Maida (Drew University, 2023).
Drew Welcomes Artist-in-Residence Smita Sen (Drew University, 2023).