Jessica Arseneau
Act 1.
Lashing straps are holding the body in a horizontal position, approximately one meter and a half away from the ground. It incarnates moments that are in suspense like those in dramatic works or of waiting situations. For instance, the short seconds that occurs just before to see the winning numbers of a lottery or the days that occupants of a house are counting while they might possibly face eviction.
This act of hanging stretches for about 25 minutes. It starts before the audience arrived and it stops when everyone has fully entered the room.
Act 2.
The body slowly untangled itself from the strings that are holding it in the air in order to finally touch the ground.
Act 3.
A black coloured bookshelf is standing a few meters away in the hallway with cardboard pieces, a black marker pen and a drill. The body approaches the shelf and takes a piece of cardboard. With the marker pen it writes "Entracte 2". Entracte defines the moment between two scenes in a play or a concert. It’s a temporal zone where supposedly nothing happens.
The body takes the shelf and makes an awkward dance which accompanies with a wooden cracking sound made from the movements. Neither the body adapts itself to the object, nor the object adapts itself to the body. This choreography continues until the bookshelf is brought to the lashing straps. It is put down in a way that the straps are holding it in a diagonal position.
Acte 4.
The body takes another piece of cardboard and writes: "Entracte 3".
It takes the drill and starts dismantling the structure of the bookshelf until it becomes pieces of wood with no more architectural shape. Pieces are falling apart, slamming the bricked floor — making a travelling noise through the hallway.
Acte 5.
Another piece of cardboard is taken and the body writes: "Entracte 4".
Then, the cardboard is being transformed into a medium sized box. A few smaller pieces of wood that are lying on the ground are taken and somehow tied in and out the cardboard box.
The body pushes the box and its disorderly pieces of wood, leaving the rest behind. It pushes it up to a corner of the hallway, next to the exit door.
A Thousand Times Nothing
2016
Performance
00:40:00
Rencontres Traverse Vidéo, Toulouse, France
Photo credits: R. Larocque