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This performance interrogates the futility of striving, the act of repetition, and the limits of the body within confined spaces. Inspired by Jean Baudrillard’s observation that “the futility of everything that comes to us from the media is the inescapable consequence of the absolute inability of that particular stage to remain silent,” the work transforms futility into physical language. Over the course of two hours, Elena Katsulis and I repeatedly body-slammed ourselves into the corner where two walls meet—a space that is neither parallel nor open, but a site of tension and impossibility.
Flanked by microphones that amplified the sound of impact, we made the wall itself an active participant in the performance. The act of slamming, falling, and rising mirrored a futile desire to transcend limitations—an endless striving against physical and existential boundaries. Performed initially online, where we patterned each other’s movements through the mediated constraints of a screen, the piece further explored the fragmented nature of connection and effort in a digital age.
Over time, the walls bore the marks of our repeated impacts, as did our bodies, bruised and battered. The work culminated in completion, emphasizing the processes of impact, endurance, and exchange. By exposing the physical limits of the body and the cyclical nature of repetitive action, the performance examines whether futility represents a lack of meaning or a mechanism through which systems, bodies, and relationships operate.
Duration 2 hours
Elastic Arts
Photos: Ricardo Adame
2023
