TWIN OF SLUMBER: Hemolymph

The performance is the sixth of the eight chapters of VestAndPage 2013 performance cycle.
It has been presented at VIVO Media Arts Centre, Vancouver in occasion of LIVE! Biennale of Performance Art (September 2013), curated and produced by Randy Gledhill.

J. S. Bach’s cantata Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen (BWV 56, 1726) closes with the simple choral "Komm o Tod du Schlafes’ Bruder / Come o death thou twin of slumber," invoking Thanatos/Death, the twin brother of Hypnos/Sleep, to "loose my ship from ropes that lumber / bring me safely into port." This performance cycle investigates death, sleep and slumber and liminal spaces, looking to wave mythical reflections on death and rebirth into the narrative of urban regeneration.
The moth is the animal totem of this performance cycle, and the single episodes are named after stages of its life cycle. Being an actual part of some of the performances of this cycle, the moth, a master of disguise, is a powerful symbol of otherwordliness, secret knowledge, faith, intuition and determination.
The performance cycle in eight parts has been developed and presented on the 2013-tour with stations in Boston (Caterpillar), Nicosia (Cocoon I, II and III), New York (Chrysalis), Istanbul (Pupae), Chicago (Histo), Vancouver (Hemolymph), Mexico City (In Situ), and closed in a 7-hour long durational performance in Helsinki (Imago).

http://www.vest-and-page.de/#!thou-twin-of-slumber/c1dze

Photo by Ash Tuyaksuyk, Vandocument