Lineage
Sculptural, durational and designed for public space, the performance opens with two women standing back-to-back in matching custom-made dresses. Just between is the long train of each dress, which ultimately connects them. The women walk apart, so slowly, their movement almost imperceptible; over many hours gradually revealed is the text on the train, sewn in contrasting pink fabric. The walk continues, the train extends to 30 meters, shifting its scope from garment to banner, from body to assembly. The quote is then at its most accessible.
The material and formal choices (as a nod to Sara Danius’ visual protest at the December 2018 Nobel Prize Award Ceremony as well as the 385-mile “Women’s Wall” in Kerala, India) and the specific phrase, political yet poetic, incorporates a feminist and activist ideology. After researching many inspiring slogans of the historic suffragettes, Longva+Carpenter chose a quotation from female writer Ryan Graudin, with reference to Audre Lorde, to include a contemporary and inclusive political vernacular; here is a silence broken. The sculptural garment, claiming space and reclaiming our voice, serves as both a protest sign and a signifier of protest. Current feminist discourse is comprised of many actions, conversations and declarations before. This conceptual layering through time becomes a visible repeat in a single strong line, slowly unfurled. The oversized and shared dress is both a weight and a bond, a measure and a lure; it signifies this moment as a metaphor of moments past, and the directionally of moving into our shared future. This is our Lineage.
"Formations," Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space | Výstaviště, Prague, CZ | June 2019
Performed for 5 hours
