A Fist Full of You

“A Fist Full of You” was presented under the umbrella of FIGHT CLUB, a performance platform exploring the challenges of creating site work in the triangulation of two artists confronting each other and their witnesses. This regular event takes the form of an open community and a hub for exchange and critical dialogue in and with place.

In response to this remit, Paz’s composition frames her inquiry into forms of material and immaterial displacement. Working through space and textures, this piece involves a sensuous engagement with ‘prime elements’ such as flour, water, salt, and fire. The action metaphorically plays with the sense of keeping time, keeping (in) touch, and keeping the fire alight.

In an empty house, with the tender presence of a dog in the room, and a shadow forecast of a performance next door by Benjamin Sebastian, Paz kneaded a bread loaf and attended to it with care. The kneading occurred in different parts of the body and it followed the cadence of a shallow pulse. In what felt like a heartbeat—a rhythm, an instance shared with this intimate audience—the dough would slowly rise by the small crackling fire, keeping everyone warm in this otherwise barren domestic space. And as the bread was made, the smell swept the room with a whimpering scent, complemented by the old rocking chair sitting near the chimney. Swaying back and forth like a ticking clock, with Paz’s head on it, her back exposed. The impressions of a soothing hand laying on her back were not necessarily seen but were instead imprinted on everyone by the warm bread which was to be savoured and consumed at the end of the night.