A Lover's Discourse: Fragments 2016

Based on the book ‘A Lover’s Discourse’ by the French literary theorist, philosopher, linguist, critic, and semiotician Roland Barthes, the performance unfolds in three chapters: ‘The Absent One’, ‘Waiting’ and ‘In the Loving Calm of Your Arms’, where in each chapter the artist bathes herself in rosewater, red wine and honey.

The performance aims to re-contextualize Barthes’ theories on the identity of ‘The Lover’ ‘and ‘The Beloved Subject/The Other’, by exploring the discourse of a romantic relationship through a theoretical, philosophical and practical approach, emphasizing on the idea of an ‘always absent Other’ (you) and ‘an always idle/waiting Lover’ (I). Until the return of the Beloved Subject, The Lover is caught in a never-ending cycle of passing time, with the element of repetition setting the connotations and references for an ascetic behaviour of ‘self-punishment / mourning’.

“I shall punish myself… cut my hair very short, conceal my eyes behind dark glasses, devote myself to the study of some serious and abstract branch of learning. I shall get up early and work while it is still dark outside, like a monk… I shall (hysterically) signify my mourning in my dress, my haircut, the regularity of my habits. This will be a gentle retreat; just that slight degree of retreat necessary to the proper functioning of a discrete pathos.” [“A Lover’s Discourse: Fragments, 1978 by Roland Barthes]

Credits: Concept/curation/text editing- Demetra Kallitsi, Mentor- Ariana Marcoulides

Reservations 99779007

Residency duration 2 days