Someone passed by. Look at the footsteps left in the sand. They are stirred up and reformulated with each step. Like the air we breathe. We keep exchanging it with each other.
QVE: Sand
Kinetic sculpture. 70x55x15cm. Takes 23 steps per minute, which equals the rhythm of relaxed respiration.
Steps make up an essential part of our lives. They are almost unconsciously taken. Like breathing, they come (and go) so naturally that we tend to forget about all the effort it takes to take a step. It takes balance, reorientation, readjustment, posture and the harmonization of all of these (and more) just so that we can take one step.
Anyone who has watched a baby take its first steps is reminded of these difficulties. Anyone who feels pain while walking immediately becomes conscious of how complicated it is to advance, step by step. Anyone who has lost or never had the capability of walking knows all about it. But let us take a step further: Footsteps often disappear as soon as the body leaves them. In fact, it is the quality of the soil that defines whether the traces remain visible, tangible or leave no evidence of their formulation. It is easier to follow someone from a great distance if they leave their footsteps in the snow, mud or sand. But it is also more difficult to walk on such terrains. The piece Sand encompasses an inverse approach to footsteps. We can see or feel the result of the steps (footprints in the sand) but we cannot trace their actor, who is de facto not present. The absence of the step-taker creates a curious, almost uncanny feel to this kinetic sensory sculpture. Sand appertains to the artistic research of Passage and 36°C/97°F.
© A Que Vous Ensemble production 2017.
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