3rd June 2 - 6pm

Piazza Arsenale

Swan Canal

Ms White and Ms Market prepare a durational intervention on the Piazza Arsenale. They attach long black ropes to two red poles and tie a white pillow into the middle. They walk to the top of the small footbridge which crosses the canal and slice open the pillow. A few feathers emerge from the densely packed bundle. Descending on either side of the bridge and onto the right and left side of the canal the performers stretch the ropes between them so that the pillow floats in mid air just above the surface of the water.

 

A gentle wind travels along the canal and over the pillow, picking up small amounts of feathers which hover briefly before landing on the water and drifting down the canal. At times the performers swing and shake the pillow to extract more feathers. In an even pace the two performers walk slowly along the canal, one on each bank, always leaning backwards to maintain the counterweight. When a boat approaches they lift the poles up to allow the boat to pass below the pillow. After about two hours the pillow is empty and the action is complete.

 

The performers tie a second pillow to the ropes and reposition themselves on either side of the canal. Just as the feathers begin to fly off and drift down the canal two boats with carabinieri appear. Due to an earlier visit by Shimon Peres to the Biennale there had already been police presence but no one interfered with the performance. Hence the two artists continue their process. However, this time a Carabinieri begins to gesticulate furiously and yelling something in Italian. The duo shifts upstream and away from the boats, maintaining the tension between them to keep the pillow lifted above the water. The boats come even closer, a Carabinieri jumps onto the quay and runs towards Ms White. Without further communication he tries to wrestle the pole from her whereby Ms Market almost falls into the water on the other side of the canal. Ms White tries to signal him in English, that the performers are willing to stop the action but the policeman takes a knife from his pocket and slashes the ropes. Under loud protest of the surrounding audiences the pillow falls into the water in the middle of the canal. A second security guard in plain clothes appears by Ms Market, takes her ends of ropes and pulls the pillow towards the water edge. The men return to the boats, then the flotilla glides past the performers and the audiences and disappears. The performers stop the intervention, audiences disperse slowly and the pillow drifts gradually down the canal towards the open see without further interference.

In this intervention an activity of the domestic realm (shaking of pillows) is performed in a public space. The rhythm of the action is thereby determined by the particular architecture of the place and by wind and water. The project also explores a collaborative mode of performance-interventions.

 

Photos: Fausto Grossi, Jason Lim, Nenad Bogdanovic