A Los Olvidados
Mid September I participated in the 4th La Muga Caula festival curated by Joan Casellas in Les Escaules, a small village Northwest of Figueres in Catalonia. For my performance "A Los Olvidados" ("to those who are forgotten") I was inspired by the civil war that raged in that area. Strange enough the other source of inspiration was a series of huge colored pictures of executed "reds" during the Finnish civil war. On top of this all this summer I had been intensely busy with (the theme of) loss. It all got its translation in the following performance.
I started with dropping some blue glass pearls, picking them up to store them in a little leather bag that was strapped around my neck. Then I took a big black piece of textile and ripped it in two pieces. I put these on the floor and lay myself down in between these pieces. Standing up I ripped one of the pieces, laid them on the floor and positioned myself in the spaces in between. After repeating this a few times I had to adjust my body into an ever more grotesque position (resembling those of the execution victims). Hereafter I took a red woolen thread and started to sew the broken pieces together, singsonging all the while. I asked for help in sewing so in the end we were 5 (wo)men repairing the black textile. Finally I brought the scarred but whole piece of cloth outside and hanged it over a balustrade. I finished the performance standing next to the "flag" in silence. The church bells gave the final touch.
I started with dropping some blue glass pearls, picking them up to store them in a little leather bag that was strapped around my neck. Then I took a big black piece of textile and ripped it in two pieces. I put these on the floor and lay myself down in between these pieces. Standing up I ripped one of the pieces, laid them on the floor and positioned myself in the spaces in between. After repeating this a few times I had to adjust my body into an ever more grotesque position (resembling those of the execution victims). Hereafter I took a red woolen thread and started to sew the broken pieces together, singsonging all the while. I asked for help in sewing so in the end we were 5 (wo)men repairing the black textile. Finally I brought the scarred but whole piece of cloth outside and hanged it over a balustrade. I finished the performance standing next to the "flag" in silence. The church bells gave the final touch.
Performed in September 2008 at La Muga Caula, Les Escaules, Spain
