THISENTANGLEMENT is a new work by QUARTO in which two bodies are captured in a thousand-meter long black rope. The piece is an autonomous continuation of the previous performance Knot Body. The work trespasses the object/subject divide through an ongoing metamorphosis of a massive black rope. A pile becomes a lasso, a whip, a snake, a huge knot, a multidimensional pattern, an accidental spatial ornament, a labyrinth. A sprawling mass that entwines, hides, reveals and becomes the bodies it connects and divides. In this process, the gaps in-between the conventional binaries of gender (male/female) and substance (presence/absence) are revealed and inhabited. The blackness of the rope and the obscurity of the space contrasts with the skin of the naked bodies. This invokes an animistic ritual that seems to imbue a utilitarian object with movement energy, awakening its own inner life.
THISENTANGLEMENT belongs to the second part of the current ROPE series. Each part in the ROPE series deals with the thousand-meter long rope in distinct ways. The first part of the series explored the rope’s flux and continuous movement. This research resulted in Beauty of Accident (for theatres or black boxes), Durational Rope (for museums or gallery spaces) and ROPE#1 (a video work). The second part of the ROPE series focuses on the rope as a knot/mass/body. The stage performance Knot Body unfolded into ROPE#2 (a video work) and is now leading to THISENTANGLEMENT (for museums). The third and final part of the ROPE series is to be developed in 2018-2020.
Credits
Choreography, Concept & Performance: Anna af Sillén de Mesquita and Leandro Zappala
Dramaturg: Igor Dobricic
Curator: Camilla Carlberg, Moderna Museet
Distribution: Key Performance
Co-produced by Moderna Museet & MDT
Supported by: The Swedish Arts Council, Stockholm’s Culture Committee, The Stockholm County Council and The Swedish Arts Grants Committee.