“Of Wanting” is a two-hour performance exploring love, longing, and loss. A woman in red stands at the rear of a deep, bright room. She walks slowly, slowly forward, revealing the long red cords tying her to the wall. She continues to walk, snail-paced, intent; the cords gradually become taut, pulling tight; she cantilevers. The tension swells until, at last, her dress rips off. She is left standing in a white slip; a long red mark remains, dividing the room. She produces a white handkerchief from her décolletage, removes her red lipstick and waves the small white flag—a symbol of both goodbye and surrender—until her arm is too strained to move anymore.

The performance is inspired by an excerpt of a contemporary poem, handwritten on the wall, affixing the woman’s gaze for its duration:

“I’m tired of cigarettes, coffee, words;

of wanting—more tired of trying not to want.

We should be what we are not: together—

all the length of our limbs, desire;

the long length of the branches, blossoms.”

—Jeredith Merrin, from her collection, Shift