In “Trying to Leave the Island,” Lilian Soarez and I connected solo performances that we have done before in order to create a work that allowed the emergence of a new dialogue between us and the city.

It was the first of a series of performances that we intend to do occupying public spaces that aren’t conventionally used by people and questioning the notion of time and relationships in big cities.

With a distance of approximately six meters between us, we placed a basket filled with yellow balls of wool between us. Each of us were sitting on a bench facing each other with an extra bench on the side (in case someone might want to cross the street to the island and sit and talk to us).

Lilian began to crochet a pair of shoes and I began to knit what I called a “floor.” Each of us used the same ball of wool but from different endings; in other words, we used the same thread to build shoes and floor.

The spectators were mainly drivers. There were two traffic lights on each side of the avenue and cars drove by and stopped, forming lines which gave drivers a chance to watch and even to talk to us.

The action went on until both shoes were ready and some floor was built (enough to step on with both feet). It lasted approximately three and half hours.