Part(ie)1

2019

Performence

Duration: 25 minutes

Performed by Kathryn Marshall and Adélaïde Pralon

As part of MOVE 2019 curated by Caroline Ferreira at Centre Pompidou, Paris

Part(ie) 1 revolves around a comparison between the differences in the French and the English script of the opening sequence of the film Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959) directed by Alain Resnais, written by Marguerite Duras. Two performers are on stage, and read the script line by line, one in French, the other in English. The intervals of sound and silence that are set by the differences in the scripts create a rhythm that will allow for listeners to sense any lost information.

While the performers’ voices are the main presence in the space in absence of the cinematic image, a small dot of light rapidly moves from left to right across the stage. This technique is commonly used in EMDR therapy, EMDR standing for ‘Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing’, and has been recognized in the recent years as an effective psychotherapeutic treatment for trauma.

A key theme in the film is the transience of memory. With this performance, the artist evokes the subversion and reprocessing of memory, which takes place in the process of transferal from one cultural context to another.