CARRIED BY THE SOLES OF YOUR FEET
first performed on May 31, 2014
Peras de Olmo, Buenos Aires, Argentina
performed once in 2014
AGNES NEDREGARD
Paris, France / Bergen, Norway
agnesnedregard.com
CARRIED BY THE SOLES OF YOUR FEET
AGNES NEDREGARD
“Carried by the soles of your feet” is a solo performance, derived from a tradition of visual performance art, making use of bodily actions, sound, costume and other materials, and audience interaction. The work responded to the specific context of the event, the space and the public present, addressing cultural and personal perceptions and baggage.
The performance started as I marched through the public and around the space, banging two solid wooden rackets together. I wore brown shorts, a shirt and neon, pink shoes. I came to a halt by the wall where I set up a metronome. I picked up a brown dress and held it up in front of me, then let it fall on the floor. The action was repeated several times before I resolved to tie the dress around my waist. I picked up an elastic band and a piece of see-through fabric and made it into a veil covering my face with it. Using an adhesive bandage I tied my left hand up into a fist. I walked over to the back door leading to the garden, pointing the way out with my bandaged fist while blowing repeatedly on the veil. When all members of the public had moved out into the garden, I lay down on my back and pushed my way out on the lawn, continuing to blow on the veil. On the lawn, I began picking up pink petals that had fallen from a tree, collecting them in my blouse. Meanwhile, the public was seated on a row of chairs which I had set up on a wooden platform in the garden. I walked over to the person sitting at one end of the row and took off her left shoe. I tried the shoe on and threw it over my shoulder into the garden. I proceeded to try on the shoes of about ten people, before choosing to keep a sneaker on, exchanging it for my own shoe. I went back inside, and poured the flower petals out on the floor. I arranged them neatly on one of my wooden rackets. When finished, I put the dress on back to front. I picked up both rackets and slowly ground the flower petals between them, until they were crushed. I went over to the owner of the sneaker I was wearing and we swapped the shoes back. I took my dress off, and put it on the right way. I stopped the metronome and thanked the audience for their attention.