#40, 2011 20 lei / 11 €, 14 USD

artæ + societate / arts + society

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On the cover: Dan Perjovschi, The Fifth Floor: Ideas Taking S pace, 2008, Tate, Liverpool, courtesy and photo credit: the artist & Tate, Liverpool

Ivan Grubanov, from the G-Series, 2010, courtesy: the artist

Aspirafliile celor care ar vrea sæ izoleze arta de lumea socialæ sînt asemænætoare cu cele ale porumbeluluilui Kant ce-øi imagina cæ, odatæ scæpat de forfla de frecare a aerului, ar putea zbura cu mult mai liber. Dacæistoria ultimilor cincizeci de ani ai artei ne învaflæ ceva, atunci cu siguranflæ cæ ea ne spune cæ o artæ detaøatæde lumea socialæ e liberæ sæ meargæ unde vrea, numai cæ nu are unde sæ meargæ. (Victor Burgin)

The aspirations of those who would isolate art from the social world are analogous to those of Kant’s dove which dreamed ofhow much freer its flight could be if only were released from the resistance of the air. If we are to learn any lesson from thehistory of the past fifty years of art, it is surely that an art unattached to the social world is free to go anywhere but that it hasnowhere to go. (Victor Burgin)

arhiva 5 Aby Warburg: practica øi teoria artei. IntroducereABY WARBURG: PRACTICE AND THEORY OF ART. INTRODUCTION

Andrei State

11 Schimburi cultural-artistice între Nord øi Sud în secolul al XV-leaARTISTIC EXCHANGES BETWEEN NORTH AND SOUTH IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY

Aby Warburg

15 Aby Warburg: intenfliile øi metodele. O prelegere aniversaræABY WARBURG: HIS AIMS AND METHODS. AN ANNIVERSARY LECTURE

E. H. Gombrich

24 Aby Warburg øi øtiinfla færæ numeABY WARBURG AND THE NAMELESS SCIENCE

Giorgio Agamben

galerie 34 Dan Perjovschi: Temporary Yours, 1995–2012

35 Erase & Forward. Interviu cu Dan Perjovschi realizat de Raluca VoineaERASE & FORWARD: An Interview with Dan Perjovschi by Raluca Voinea

scena 69 Aceiaøi vechi prieteni: a afirma, a contesta, a rezistaTHE SAME OLD FRIENDS: TO STATE, TO CHALLENGE, TO RESIST

Vlad Morariu

79 Poziflia fostului bloc estic în noile teorii critice øi în practicile curatoriale recenteTHE EX-EASTERN BLOC’S POSITION IN THE NEW CRITICAL THEORIES AND IN THE RECENT CURATORIAL PRACTICE

Edit András

97 „Eu nu sînt un simplu observator“. Interviu cu Ivan Grubanov realizat de Raluca Voinea“I AM NOT MERELY AN OBSERVER”: An Interview with Ivan Grubanov by Raluca Voinea

104 „Vrem ca lumea sæ continue altfel“. Interviu cu Maja Bajevic realizat de Diane Amiel“WE WANT TO CONTINUE THE WORLD IN A DIFFERENT WAY“: An Interview with Maja Bajevic’ by Diane Amiel

116 O mie de mîini: performînd Munca øi Timpul. O conversaflie între Valentina Vetturi øi Vlad MorariuA THOUSAND HANDS: ON PERFORMING WORK AND TIME: A Discussion between Valentina Vetturi and Vlad Morariu

125 Postspectacolul ca deturnare a spafliului publicTHE POSTSPECTACLE AS AN HIJACKING OF THE PUBLIC SPACE

Iulia Popovici

134 Ghidul fetei pentru PalestinaA GIRLS’ GUIDE TO PALESTINE

Anetta Mona Chiøa & Lucia Tkácova

insert 138 Tomás Svoboda: Ultimul rînd, la mijlocLAST ROW IN THE MIDDLE

+ 141 Bilete la ordin: de la crizæ la bunuri comuneColectivul Midnight Notes øi prietenii sæiPROMISSORY NOTES: FROM CRISIS TO COMMONS

Midnight Notes Collective and Friends

verso 161 Pentru o teorie criticæ a postcomunismului (II)FOR A CRITICAL THEORY OF POST-COMMUNISM (II)

Ovidiu fiichindeleanu

IDEA artæ + societate / IDEA arts + societyCluj, #40, 2011 / Cluj, Romania, issue #40, 2011

Editatæ de / Edited by:IDEA Design & Print Cluj øi Fundaflia IDEAStr. Dorobanflilor, 12, 400117 ClujTel.: 0264–594634; 431661Fax: 0264–431603

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Redactori / Editors:BOGDAN GHIUCIPRIAN MUREØANTIMOTEI NÆDÆØAN – redactor-øef / editor-in-chiefALEXANDRU POLGÁRADRIAN T. SÎRBU OVIDIU fiICHINDELEANURALUCA VOINEA

Colaboratori permanenfli / Peers:MARIUS BABIASAMI BARAKAUREL CODOBANDAN PERJOVSCHIG. M. TAMÁS

Concepflie graficæ / Graphic design:TIMOTEI NÆDÆØAN

Asistent design / Assistant designer:LENKE JANITSEK

Asistenflæ redacflionalæ / Editorial assistant:IULIA POPOVICI

Corector / Proof reading:VIRGIL LEON

Web-site:CIPRIAN MUREØAN

Revista apare cu sprijinul Administrafliei Fondului Cultural Naflional.Revista apare cu sprijinul Administrafliei Fondului Cultural Naflional.

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Toate articolele a cæror sursæ nu este menflionatæ constituie portofoliul revistei IDEA artæ + societate Cluj.

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Idea Design & Print, Cluj

O mie de mîini: performînd Munca øi TimpulO conversaflie între Valentina Vetturi øi Vlad Morariu

VALENTINA VETTURI (Reggio Calabria, 1979). Lucrærile sale investigheazæ raporturile dintre performance,scris øi elementele subversive din viafla de zi cu zi. Printre proiectele/expozifliile sale recente se numæræ UnViaggio (Spazio Norbert Salenbauch, Veneflia, 2011), The Playground (Premio LUM, Bari, 2011), La Funzione(Naba, Milano, 2011), La Macchina che produce il Tempo (Masseria Torre Coccaro, 2010), La Pendolare/TheCommuter (Living Layers/Wunderkammern øi MACRO Roma, 2010). E autoarea câtorva cærfli, printre careLa Macchina che produce il Tempo (editatæ de Galleria Bonomo Bari) øi Un Esilio (editatæ de Tenuta delloScompiglio, Lucca). A cîøtigat Premiul Razzano øi a luat parte la numeroase rezidenfle, printre care: FAAP–Fundaçao Armando Alvares Penteado (São Paulo, Brazilia), Viafarini (Milano). E cofondatoare a colectivuluiRadice Quadrata.

Vlad Morariu ¬ Aø vrea sæ vorbim despre trei dintre lucrærile tale, Machine ThatProduces Time [Maøina care produce timpul], Commuters [Navetiøti] øi Cheek toCheek [De la obraz la obraz]. Mi-au stîrnit interesul deoarece cred cæ ele produc ofoarte puternicæ rezonanflæ cu ceea ce Deleuze øi Guattari ar numi „asamblajemaøinice“. Bineînfleles, ele comportæ mai mult decît simplul uz al dispozitivelor tehnice,care, de altfel, este reflectat într-o anumitæ mæsuræ în lucrærile tale; mæ refer mai degrabæla modurile prin care acfliunile tale performative întrerup structurile øi fluxurile vieflii coti-diene øi înlænfluie elemente ale unor regimuri diferite: grafism, litere øi hîrtie, aranja-mente sociale, corpuri øi subiectivitæfli.Valentina Vetturi √ Deleuze øi Guattari au introdus conceptul maøinii deziran-te. Cred cæ în aceste lucræri propria mea subiectivitate a acflionat ca un fel de maøinædezirantæ: dorinfla mea a fost sæ creez un salt, o întrerupere în procesul vieflii de zicu zi. În performance-urile mele acflionez în parte mimetic dinæuntrul mediilor deviaflæ zilnicæ, însæ totodatæ încerc mereu sæ creez aceste deplasæri. Acesta e sensullucrærilor mele. Øi îmi amintesc cæ Deleuze spunea cam aøa: „Lasæ-fli maøinadezirantæ sæ træiascæ“. Performance-ul are de-a face cu o voinflæ de a acfliona øi sîntinteresatæ sæ activez incertitudini. În toate lucrærile pe care le-ai pomenit, ceea cee construit [de ele] opereazæ cu semnificaflii diferite. Lucrarea e creatæ printr-un dia-log strict cu mediul de viaflæ în care se desfæøoaræ. În Navetiøti am încercat sæîmpærtæøesc condifliile muncitorilor ce cælætoresc dintr-un cartier de la periferiaRomei în centru, în timp ce în Maøina care produce timpul reflectam asupra ideiide lux, asupra a ceea ce e produs øi oferit într-un asemenea loc cum e MasseriaTorre Coccaro de la Savelletri, Apulia.¬ Ce e o masseria?√ O fostæ fermæ fortificatæ la flaræ, o structuræ tipicæ atît în Apulia, cît øi în Sicilia,construitæ în timpul dominafliei spaniole, care este transformatæ øi utilizatæ acum caun hotel de lux de cinci stele.¬ Øi ce fel de muncæ desfæøoaræ oamenii acolo?√ Dupæ mine, oamenii muncesc acolo pentru a produce Timp, timp liber, pen-tru clienfli. Timpul a devenit un lux în ziua de azi øi masseria e un templu al timpu-lui liber, un templu al unei lenevii posibile. Clienflii merg acolo pentru a gæsi un rægazde la muncæ øi stresul cotidian. Am fost acolo fiindcæ am fost invitatæ într-o rezidenflæ,øi mi-am petrecut primele zece zile ca un oaspete al stafliunii, încercînd sæ experi-mentez acest lux, sæ înfleleg ce este luxul azi.¬ Îmi amintesc cæ vizitînd eu însumi aceastæ masseria, am avut o foarte puternicæsenzaflie cæ totul este, într-adevær, prea perfect pentru a fi real.√ Sînt patruzeci de camere øi un personal de cel puflin optzeci de oameni, însæsînt invizibili, nu-i vezi ori auzi. Am locuit acolo timp de zece zile færæ sæ îmi închipuimæcar un asemenea numær de oameni, iar în momentul în care proprietarul mi-a

A THOUSAND HANDS: ON PERFORMING WORK AND TIMEA Discussion between Valentina Vetturi and Vlad Morariu

VALENTINA VETTURI (b. Reggio Calabria, 1979). Her works investigate the relationships among performance, writing and the disruptiveelements of everyday life. Recent projects/exhibitions include Un Viaggio(Spazio Norbert Salenbauch, Venice, 2011), The Playground (PremioLUM, Bari, 2011), La Funzione (Naba, Milan, 2011), La Macchina cheproduce il Tempo (Masseria Torre Coccaro, 2010), La Pendolare/The Commuter (Living Layers/Wunderkammern and MACRO Rome,2010). She is the author of several books, among them La Macchina cheproduce il Tempo (produced by Galleria Bonomo Bari), and Un Esilio(produced by Tenuta dello Scompiglio, Lucca). She is the winner of theRazzano Prize and has taken part in various residencies including: FAAP– Fundaçao Armando Alvares Penteado (São Paulo, Brasil), Viafarini(Milan). She is the co-founder of the collective Radice Quadrata.

Vlad Morariu ¬ I would like to talk about three of your works, the Machine That Produces Time, Commuters and Cheek to Cheek. I became interested in them because I think that they produce a very strong resonance with what Deleuze and Guattari would call“machinic assemblages“. Of course, there is more to them than amere use of technical devices, of which there exists a certain reflec-tion in your works; I rather refer to the manners in which your performative acts disrupt structures and flows of daily life, and con-catenate elements of different regimes: writing, letters, and paper,social arrangements, bodies, and subjectivities.Valentina Vetturi √ Deleuze and Guattari have come up with theconcept of the desiring machine. I think that in these works my ownsubjectivity was acting as a sort of a desiring machine: my desire wasto create a leap, an interruption in the processes of everyday life. In my performances I partly act mimetically within the environmentsof everyday life, but at the same time I am always trying to createthese shifts. This is the point of my works. And I remember thatDeleuze said something like “Let your desiring machine be alive“.Performance has to do with a will to act, and I am interested in acti-vating doubts. In all the works you mentioned, what is constructedoperates with different meanings. The work is created trough a strictdialogue with the environment where it takes place. In the Com-muters I was trying to share the conditions of workers traveling fromone periphery neighborhood of Rome to the city, whereas in theMachine That Produces Time I was reflecting on the concept of luxu-ry, of that was is produced and offered in a place like the MasseriaTorre Coccaro in Savelletri, Puglia.¬ What is a Masseria?√ A fortified farm in the countryside, a typical structure in Pugliaas in Sicily built during the Spanish domination that now is trans-formed and used as a five stars luxury hotel.¬ And what kinds of work are people doing there?√ According to me, people there are working in order to produceTime, free time, for clients. Time has become a luxury today and theMasseria is a temple of free time, a temple of a possible idleness.The clients go there to find a break from work and everyday stress. I was there because I was invited in a residency, and I spent the firstten days as a guest of the resort, trying to experience this luxury, tounderstand what luxury is today.¬ I remember that as I visited the Masseria myself, I had a verystrong feeling that everything is, indeed, too perfect to be real.√ There are forty rooms and a staff of eighty people, at minimum,but they are invisible, you don’t see or hear them. I was living therefor ten days without even imagining this amount of people, and as

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spus, am înfleles cæ am gæsit cheia acestui fel de loc. Træiam într-o maøinæ, un meca-nism foarte sofisticat, însæ complet silenflios. O maøinæ socialæ care producea timp:am decis sæ o fac vizibilæ. Însæ asta presupunea sæ-i investighez componentele umaneøi am considerat necesar sæ îi întîlnesc pe tofli aceøti oameni. Totuøi, întrucît eramun oaspete, nu a fost uøor sæ le obflin încrederea. Cu toate cæ ar fi trebuit sæ ræmînacolo pentru trei sæptæmîni, mi-a luat o lunæ øi jumætate sæ îi væd pe tofli. În cele dinurmæ, am vorbit cu fiecare dintre cei ce alcætuiesc acest corp colectiv, færæ vreo dis-tincflie ierarhicæ. Conceptul de timp în sine a devenit punctul meu central de inte-res. Astfel, vorbind cu ei am început sæ descriu aceastæ imagine a unei Maøini careproduce Timp, øi, trebuie sæ îfli spun, s-au simflit puflin dislocafli. Punctul de pornireal discufliilor noastre a fost: „Aøadar, ce este timpul pentru tine?“, primul rînd din cele-brul fragment al Confesiunilor Sfîntului Augustin, unde el spune: „Dacæ nu mæ întrea-bæ nimeni, o øtiu; dacæ vreau sæ le-o explic celor care mæ întreabæ, nu mai øtiu“.¬ Øi atunci, ca sæ spunem aøa, întrebarea ta despre timp avea nevoie de timp casæ îøi gæseascæ ræspunsurile?√ O întrebare neobiønuitæ are puterea de a crea o anumitæ intimitate care, altmin-teri, îi e refuzatæ unui stræin. Eram încæ un stræin acolo, un client, fie øi unul care îiîntreba despre timp. Mai mult decît atît, m-am dus acolo pentru a-i întrerupe peaceøti oameni în timp ce munceau. Nu am fæcut vreo programare, pur øi simplumergeam acolo, mæ prezentam øi îi întrebam despre timp; cu unii dintre ei vor-beam ore în øir, cu alflii chiar øi zile întregi, în timp ce cu alflii doar cîteva minute. Tim-pul de care ei dispuneau a fost decisiv. Însæ ce a fost cu adeværat interesant e cæ pînæla momentul în care vorbisem deja cu o parte dintre ei, vestea despre prezenflamea se ræspîndise, øi se întrebau unii pe alflii ce au ræspuns la întrebærile mele; încele din urmæ au început sæ vorbeascæ despre timp færæ mine. Într-un fel, aceastæîntrebare a generat un proces asupra cæruia m-am bucurat sæ pierd controlul.¬ Spune-mi despre ræspunsurile lor øi despre procesul de asamblare a acestora înlucrarea ta.

soon as the owner told me about it I understood that I found the keyof the Masseria. I was living in a machine, a very sophisticated buttotally silent mechanism. A social machine that was producing time:I decided to make it visible. But this presupposed investigating itshuman components, and I found it necessary to meet all these people. However, since I was a guest, it was not easy to obtain theirtrust. Although I was supposed to stay there for three weeks, seeingall of them took me one month and a half. In the end I talked toevery person that made up this collective body with no hierarchicaldistinction. The concept of time in itself became my main point ofinterest. Therefore, in talking with them I started to describe thisimage of a Machine that produces Time, and, I have to tell you, thatthey felt a little bit displaced. The starting point of our dialogues was“What is then time for you?“, the first line from St. Augustine’sfamous fragment from Confessions, which reads “If nobody asks me,I know it; if I want to explain it to those who ask me, I don’t know itanymore“. ¬ And then, let’s put it this way, your question about time neededtime to find its answers? √ An unusual question has the power of creating a certain intimacythat otherwise is forbidden to a stranger. I was still a stranger there,a client, though one asking them about time. Most importantly, I went there to interrupt these people while they were working. I didn’t make any appointment, I was going there, presented myself,and asked them about time; with some of them I would talk forhours, with others even for whole days, while with others only forminutes. Their available time was decisive. But what was really inter-esting is that by the time I had already talked to a part of them,word about my presence was spreading from mouth to mouth, theywere asking each other what they answered to my questions: at theend they started to talk about time without me. In a way, this ques-tion generated a process which I was glad to lose control of.¬ Tell me about their answers and about the process of assemblingthem in your work. √ There were many thought-provoking answers. I discovered anunexpected willingness to talk about fragments of life. One womanfrom the laundry answered that time, for her, is 48 years of mar-riage, five kids and eight nephews. Some of them said that time islack of work. This type of answer came especially from those workingin the kitchen, because their labor was taking place under a lot ofstress. On the other hand, women working in the laundry or some of the waitresses in the rooms said that they had no time, becausethey were working both in the Masseria and at home for their fami-lies. With men it was a bit different, for them the distinction betweenworking time and leisure time was clearer. Then there were more – let’s call them philosophical answers, concerning the perception of time, some even said that time is a constructed concept, that weinvented it, that it doesn’t really exist as such, that it is useless to talkabout time in itself, that you can understand it only when you meas-ure it. Last but not least, I also discovered that for some of themtime was linked to migration. When you are a waiter for a five starsluxury hotel you have to have a certain level of professionalism, youhave to know many languages, you have to serve in a certain way,you need to know how to talk with clients, how to have conversa-tions. All these people learnt their profession by working in differentparts of Europe, some of them would come to work for the Masseriaonly for a number of months a year, whereas others simply decidedto come back for personal reasons. So I collected stories about timesof wandering through the continent as well. As for my work process,I didn’t record any of their answers, or take any pictures; I just tooknotes at the end of the each day, trying to remember what I havebeen told. These were filtered during the performance, which tookplace in the courtyard of the Masseria: it was the public space of thearea. For one week I was writing on a 20 m long paper scroll roll, I was writing what I remembered about their answers. The video fol-lowing this performance has a straight composition, just a few

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scena

La Macchina che Produce il Tempo [Machine That Produces Time], 2010, detail of the paper scroll, credit: the artist

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Cheek to Cheek, 2010, frame video, credit: the artist

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scena

La Pendolare [The Commuter],2010, performance, documentation photo, credit: the artist

La Pendolare [The Commuter],2010, installation detail (315 lyed paper typed),Wunderkammern, Rome, credit: the artist

din rafliuni personale. Aøadar, am colecflionat de asemenea poveøti despre timpuride peregrinare de-a lungul continentului. Cît despre procesul muncii mele, nu amînregistrat niciunul dintre ræspunsurile lor, nici nu am fæcut fotografii; am luat doar notiflela finalul fiecærei zile, încercînd sæ-mi amintesc ce mi s-a spus. Acestea au fost filtratepe parcursul performance-ului, care a avut loc în curtea masseriei: era spafliul pu-blic al zonei. Timp de o sæptæmînæ am tot scris pe un sul de hîrtie lung de 20 de metri,scriam ce îmi aminteam din ræspunsurile lor. Videoul ce a rezultat în urma perfor-mance-ului are o compoziflie simplæ øi include doar cîteva elemente din care eu lipsesc.Existæ acolo totuøi un fel de veønicæ repetiflie a unui moment interior despre viaflæce se deruleazæ înainte øi înapoi, ca o imagine staticæ.¬ Ai fost invitatæ la Masseria Torre Coccaro în calitate de artist; ai reuøit sæ te desprinzide aceastæ condiflie privilegiatæ cînd ai lucrat cu oamenii?

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√ Au fost multe ræspunsuri incitante. Am descoperit o disponibilitate neaøteptatæde a vorbi despre fragmente de viaflæ. O femeie de la spælætorie mi-a ræspuns cætimpul, pentru ea, sînt patruzeci øi opt de ani de cæsnicie, cinci copii øi opt nepofli.Unii dintre ei spuneau cæ timpul e lipsa muncii. Acest fel de ræspuns a venit mai alesde la cei care lucrau la bucætærie, deoarece munca lor se desfæøura în condiflii destres. Pe de altæ parte, femeile care munceau la spælætorie ori unele chelnerifle dincamere spuneau cæ nu au timp, fiindcæ munceau atît în masserie, cît øi acasæ, pen-tru familile lor. Cu bærbaflii a fost puflin altfel, pentru ei diferenfla dintre timpul de muncæøi timpul liber era mai claræ. Apoi au fost ræspunsuri – sæ le zicem mai filozofice –privind percepflia timpului, unii chiar spuneau cæ timpul este un concept fabricat,cæ noi l-am inventat, cæ nu existæ ca atare, cæ e inutil sæ vorbeøti despre timp în sine,cæ îl pofli înflelege doar cînd îl mæsori. Øi, nu în ultimul rînd, am descoperit totodatæcæ pentru unii dintre ei timpul era corelat cu migrarea. Cînd eøti un ospætar într-unhotel de lux de cinci stele trebuie sæ ai un anumit nivel de profesionalism, trebuiesæ cunoøti multe limbi, trebuie sæ serveøti într-un anume fel, trebuie sæ øtii cum sævorbeøti cu clienflii, cum sæ porfli o conversaflie. Tofli aceøti oameni øi-au învæflat mese-ria lucrînd în diferite pærfli ale Europei, unii dintre ei veneau sæ lucreze pentru masse-rie doar pentru cîteva luni pe an, în timp ce alflii s-au decis pur øi simplu sæ se reîntoarcæ

elements which don’t include me. There is there, nevertheless, a sortof eternal repetition of an inner moment about life which goes backand forwards, like a still image.¬ You were invited at the Masseria as an artist: did you manage tobreak this circle of privilege when working with people?√ This was something on the line. I don’t think they perceived meas one of them. I had a privileged position as an inquirer and a lis-tener. I think that the workers started to perceive me differently, orsomething changed when they saw me writing for one whole week,because they had seen me asking questions before, something thatthey could perceive as not a hard work, whereas writing seemed totake a lot of energy. However, for me asking questions was harderthan writing, because writing could be physically stressing, thoughless emotionally upsetting. For me it takes more energy to try toenter in someone’s private sphere of life: it needs a lot of trainingthat you have to do with yourself. It implies sharing, because other-wise you cannot have a real discussion. I shared the process of workwith them, they were always aware of its progress, became involvedand started to help me. At the end they all somehow found anexcuse to come and see me performing. The performance was aboutwhat I was remembering from the dialogues I had with them. I waswriting down in a peculiar order: name, then time, then questionand the answer. It was an excerpt of their answers, of what I thoughtit was interesting in their answers. There was this filter which was mymemory and my interest. Everybody knew I would make mistakes ormisunderstand something. But at least I remembered all their 80names. ¬ One constant in your works is the use of writing. What is the rela-tionship between the performative body, writing and time as experi-enced by others and by yourself?√ Writing was a way of registering the time of my work: this is whyI decided to write for one week on this long scroll of paper. I con-sciously sought to feel the tiredness of work. I thought that when I work with workers I need to do something performative, that takesa lot of energy, something that makes me feel tired. In a way thisputs to test another machine, the machine of the body, and itscapacity to perceive time. Thus, there is a direct connection betweenwriting and the body. This is why I enjoy Augustine’s fragment,because he is concerned with the perception of time: rationalizingthe question of time might not provide a satisfactory answer, where-as there is this other type of knowledge, obtained through the body,a sort of filter for time. While I was living as a client I was totally dis-placed and so I realized that I had started to perceive time only byphysical means, like changes in daylight: a sort of body reflectionabout time. It was the first time I didn’t perceive time in terms ofwork – finishing this, starting that – but I was dealing only with lightand the great silence of the Masseria, which was really alienating.But going back to writing, it is developed on two levels: it is not onlya way to deal with memory, to create something readable, but it isalso a way to create a visual sign. My aim was not only to create astory: the scroll of written paper registers the machine as a sort of a musical score. That’s why there exists also an audio of the perform-ance. While I was writing I was also pronouncing words, as a way oflearning the alphabet of the place, like children do when learningletters while pronouncing them. ¬ This is interesting, and I feel it necessary to go back to Deleuzeand Guattari. Among the machines capable of breaking closures theywere mentioning musical scores, algorithms of logic, or algebra, artor the language of theoretical physics. In a way they are all diagramsor maps. Their peculiarity lies in the fact that they constitute sites ofproduction, their purpose being not to represent thought, but togenerate thought. And I think that your artwork becomes a sort of a map, of a diagram, of an alphabet, which functions in the samelogic, because it doesn’t simply represent the machine of the Masse-ria. It exceeds it, becoming something of a machine in its own right;it produces its referents, generating its effects and its expectations.

La Macchina che Produce il Tempo [Machine That Produces Time], 2010, installation (paper scroll handwritten 20 m × 50 cm), Masseria Torre Coccaro, Brindisi, Italy, credit: the artist

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√ A fost ceva la risc. Nu cred cæ m-au perceput ca fiind unul de-al lor. Aveam opoziflie privilegiatæ ca un investigator øi ascultætor. Cred cæ muncitorii au început sæmæ perceapæ altfel ori ceva s-a schimbat cînd m-au væzut cæ scriu o sæptæmînæ întreagæ,deoarece mæ væzuseræ înainte punînd întrebæri, ceva ce nu li se va fi pærut a fi cineøtie ce muncæ grea, în timp ce scrisul pærea sæ solicite mai mult efort. Totuøi, pen-tru mine punerea întrebærilor a fost mai dificilæ decît scrisul, deoarece scrisul puteafi fizic mai solicitant, însæ emoflional mai puflin deconcertant. Pentru mine, efortule mai mare în a încerca sæ intru în sfera privatæ a vieflii cuiva: e nevoie de multæ pre-gætire pe care trebuie sæ o faci cu tine însufli. Presupune sæ împærtæøeøti lucruri, întrucîtaltfel nu pofli purta cu adeværat o discuflie. Am împærtæøit procesul muncii mele cuei, erau mereu conøtienfli de progresul acesteia, s-au implicat øi au început sæ mæajute. În cele din urmæ au gæsit cumva cu toflii un motiv sæ vinæ sæ mæ vadæ perfor-mînd. Performance-ul a vizat ceea ce îmi aminteam din discufliile avute cu ei. Aø-terneam în scris într-o ordine aparte: numele, apoi timpul, apoi întrebarea øiræspunsul. Era un extras din ræspunsurile lor, din ceea ce credeam cæ e interesantîn ræspunsurile lor. A existat filtrul acesta care era memoria mea øi interesul meu.Tofli øtiau cæ voi face greøeli ori voi ræstælmæci ceva. Însæ cel puflin mi-am amintit toatecele 80 de nume ale lor.¬ Un lucru constant în lucrærile tale e utilizarea scrisului. Care este relaflia dintrecorpul performativ, scriere øi timp aøa cum este el experimentat de ceilalfli øi de tineînsufli?√ Scrisul a fost un mod de a înregistra timpul muncii mele; din acest motiv, amdecis sæ scriu timp de o sæptæmînæ pe acest sul lung de hîrtie. Am urmærit în modconøtient sæ simt oboseala muncii mele. M-am gîndit cæ atunci cînd muncesc cu mun-citorii trebuie sæ fac ceva performativ, ceva ce solicitæ un mare efort, ceva ce mæface sæ mæ simt obositæ. Într-un fel, asta pune la încercare o altæ maøinæ, maøina corpu-lui, øi capacitatea ei de a percepe timpul. Astfel, existæ o legæturæ directæ între scrisøi corp. Acesta e motivul pentru care îmi place fragmentul din Augustin, deoareceel pune în cauzæ percepflia timpului: raflionalizarea întrebærii cu privire la timp s-arputea sæ nu producæ un ræspuns satisfæcætor, în vreme ce existæ acest alt tip de cu-noaøtere, obflinut prin corp, un fel de filtru pentru timp. Cît timp am locuit acoloca un client am fost complet dislocatæ øi astfel am realizat cæ am început sæ perceptimpul doar prin mijloace fizice, cum ar fi schimbærile în lumina zilei: un fel de reflec-flie corporalæ asupra timpului. A fost prima datæ cînd nu percepeam timpul în ter-meni de muncæ – sæ termin asta, sæ încep cealaltæ –, ci mæ confruntam doar cu luminaøi imensa tæcere a locului, care era de-a dreptul alienantæ. Însæ revenind la scris, else dezvoltæ pe douæ niveluri: nu e doar un mod de a angaja memoria, de a creaceva lizibil, ci e totodatæ un mod de a crea un semn vizual. Scopul meu nu a fostsæ creez doar o poveste: sulul de hîrtie scrisæ înregistreazæ maøina ca un fel de parti-turæ muzicalæ. De aceea existæ totodatæ o înregistrare audio a performance-ului.În timp ce scriam, pronunflam øi cuvintele, ca o modalitate de a învæfla alfabetul locu-lui, asemenea copiilor cînd învaflæ literele pronunflîndu-le.¬ Asta e interesant, øi simt nevoia sæ mæ reîntorc la Deleuze øi Guattari. Printre ma-øinile capabile sæ desfacæ închiderile, ei aminteau partiturile muzicale, algoritmii dinlogicæ ori algebræ, arta sau limbajul fizicii teoretice. Într-un fel, toate acestea sînt dia-grame ori hærfli. Specificitatea lor rezidæ în faptul cæ ele constituie øantiere de producflie,scopul lor fiind nu de a reprezenta gîndirea, ci de a o genera. Øi cred cæ lucrarea tadevine un fel de hartæ, de diagramæ, de alfabet, ce funcflioneazæ dupæ aceeaøi logi-cæ, întrucît ea nu reprezintæ pur øi simplu maøinæria masseriei. O transcende, devenindoarecum o maøinæ autonomæ; îøi produce referenflii, generîndu-øi efectele øi aøteptærile.Øi cred cæ asta este valabil øi pentru celelalte douæ lucrærile ale tale, Navetiøti øi Dela obraz la obraz, realizate în urma perioadei de timp petrecute în cartierul Tor Pig-

And I think that this is true for your other two works, Commutersand Cheek to Cheek, which were realized following a residency in theTor Pignattara neighbourhood. To the already known assemblage ofworkers-body-writing there is, nevertheless, a new instrument inter-vening, the typewriter. How did you get along with it?√ First of all, the typewriter functioned as a sort of protection. I was again privileged: I could distinguish myself from the others. On the other hand, it helped me escape from a progressive feelingof alienation that I felt during the performance. For eight hours aday, during seven days: I was a commuter, I was endlessly travellingfrom the Roma Termini station (the main train station in Rome) and a far away station in a neighbourhood, Tor Pignattara. I would geton and get off, again and again, travelling back and forth. I wantedto achieve a correspondence between the physical time spent in thistrain, and a continuous stream of writing. I gathered and combinedthoughts in my mind with fragments of conversations that I heard in the train, words from the newspapers read by people next to me,parts of bodies coming and going, I was writing about people’s pos-tures, about faces, hands and smells, about my own sickness and myown loss of time, about the wait for the end of the working day, andabout the conversations held with people interested in what I wasdoing there. I was also writing about what I was doing, reflectionsabout the rules of a performance, about what a performer can orcannot do, about a public space reproduced in a closed space.¬ So again, I see writing operating as a compensatory remedy. It starts by registering what is around and then, as it were, sets themind free. √ You see, travelling backwards and forward, everyday, for thewhole of your life can become a ritual. Rituals are indeed repetitionsof past events. But I think that the typewriter introduced a differ-ence, while initiating another ritual, my personal ritual. I would getin the train, open the bag, place the machine, write, roll the coil,release the slider, place the sheet, write, write, write, close the bag.The typewriter became the key operator, as I wanted to have a writ-ten outcome while I was doing the performance. I couldn’t carry aprinter with me and I couldn’t’ do handwriting: typewriting is differ-ent than hand writing or computer writing because you cannotchange anything of what you’ve written. It was the first time I wasusing a typewriter and I could afford the luxury of doing mistakeswhile typing. Since I was on a moving train, many imperfectionsadded to those mistakes. I enjoyed working with these flaws, withthese uncontrolled interruptions and imperfections: the ink wouldoften run out, the machine would stop working all of the sudden, it would for example fall down because of the moves of the train, oreven within the 45 pages that resulted, spaces in the writing whichwere dictated by the train speed or bends. And there was the noiseof the machine, a sort of music that a machine does, and again theidea of a score came out. I was producing signs and a kind of music. ¬ So let us reconstruct this image: among those 35,000 peopletravelling daily in this train, on their way to work, there is an artistwith a typewriter, which seems to have landed there from a differentcentury… This must have raised some eyebrows...√ I used an Olivetti typewriter from 1978, a model used by journal-ists that were doing field work. For sure, it also has a certain aesthet-ic and historical load and I wanted to create with its help a shift – using something which is not from our time: otherwise I would bejust a woman with a computer in the train. I wanted to distinguishmyself in a subtle way from the others. I am very sympathetic withJean-Luc Nancy’s idea of the intruder, I saw myself as an intruderwhich breaks regular flows. In L’Intrus Nancy writes that “Sincemoral correctness assumes that one receives the stranger by effacinghis strangeness at the threshold, it would thus never have us receivehim. But the stranger insists and breaks in. This is what is not easy toreceive, nor, perhaps, to conceive.“ So, on the one hand I wanted toexperiment this condition of the commuter, that I call the palin-drome condition. – A palindrome is a word or a verse that reads the

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La Pendolare [The Commuter], 2010, typescript p. 11/45, credit: the artist

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nattara. La asamblajul deja familiar, muncitori-corp-grafie, se adaugæ însæ un nou instru-ment, maøina de scris. Cum te-ai descurcat cu asta?√ În primul rînd, maøina de scris a funcflionat ca un fel de protecflie. Am fost dinnou privilegiatæ: am putut sæ mæ diferenfliez de ceilalfli. Pe de altæ parte, m-a ajutatsæ scap de un sentiment progresiv de alienare resimflit pe durata performance-ului.Opt ore pe zi, timp de øapte zile: am fost un navetist, cælætoream încontinuu de lastaflia Roma Termini (gara principalæ din Roma) la o staflie îndepærtatæ într-un car-tier, Tor Pignattara. Mæ urcam øi coboram, iar øi iar, cælætorind dus-întors. Am vrutsæ obflin o corespondenflæ între timpul fizic petrecut în acest tren øi un flux continuual scrierii. Am strîns øi am îmbinat gînduri în mintea mea cu fragmente de conversafliiauzite în tren, cuvinte din ziare citite de oamenii de lîngæ mine, pærfli ale corpurilorvenind øi plecînd, scriam despre pozifliile oamenilor, despre chipuri, mîini øi miro-suri, despre propria mea stare de greaflæ øi pierderea mea de timp, despre aøtep-tarea sfîrøitului zilei de muncæ øi despre conversafliile purtate cu oamenii interesaflide ceea ce fæceam acolo. Scriam de asemenea despre ceea ce fæceam, reflecflii despreregulile unui performance, despre ce poate sau nu sæ facæ un performer, despreun spafliu public reprodus într-un spafliu închis.¬ Astfel, iaræøi, væd scrierea operînd ca un remediu compensator. Începe prin a înre-gistra ce e în jur øi apoi, ca sæ zic aøa, dæ frîu liber gîndirii.√ Vezi, cælætorind înainte øi-napoi, zi de zi, toatæ viafla ta poate deveni un ritual. Ritua-lurile sînt într-adevær repetiflii ale evenimentelor trecute. Însæ cred cæ maøina de scrisa introdus o diferenflæ, prin iniflierea unui alt ritual, ritualul meu personal. Urcam în tren,deschideam geanta, aøezam maøina, scriam, ræsuceam rola, decuplam carul, aøezamfoaia de hîrtie, scriam, scriam, scriam, închideam geanta. Maøina de scris a devenitoperatorul principal, întrucît am dorit sæ am un rezultat în scris în timp ce realizamperformance-ul. Nu puteam transporta o imprimantæ cu mine øi nu puteam sæ scriude mînæ: dactilografia e diferitæ de caligrafie ori de scrierea la computer fiindcæ nu poflischimba nimic din ceea ce ai scris. A fost prima datæ cînd am utilizat o maøinæ de scrisøi mi-am putut permite luxul de a comite erori în timp ce bæteam la maøinæ. Dinmoment ce mæ aflam într-un tren în miøcare, multe imperfecfliuni s-au adæugat ace-lor greøeli. Mi-a fæcut plæcere sæ lucrez cu aceste defecte, cu aceste întreruperi øi imper-fecfliuni incontrolabile: deseori cerneala se termina, brusc maøina nu mai funcfliona,cæzînd, de exemplu, datoritæ miøcærilor trenului ori, chiar în cuprinsul celor 45 de pa-gini ce au rezultat, spafliile în scriere au fost dictate de viteza øi virajele trenului. Øi maiera zgomotul maøinii, un fel de muzicæ pe care o maøinæ o produce, øi din nou aapærut ideea unei partituri. Produceam semne øi un fel de muzicæ.¬ Hai sæ reconstituim imaginea asta: printre cei 35.000 de oameni cælætorind zil-nic în acest tren, în drumul lor cætre muncæ, este un artist cu o maøinæ de scris, carepare sæ fi aterizat acolo dintr-un alt secol... Asta trebuie sæ fi stîrnit ceva nedumerire...√ Am folosit o maøinæ de scris Olivetti din 1978, un model folosit de jurnaliøtiicare fæceau investigaflii de teren. Cu siguranflæ, asta are øi o anumitæ încærcæturæ esteti-cæ øi istoricæ øi am vrut sæ creez cu ajutorul ei o deplasare – utilizînd ceva ce nu edin zilele noastre: în caz contrar, aø fi fost doar o femeie cu un computer în tren.Am vrut sæ mæ diferenfliez într-un mod subtil de ceilalfli. Sînt extrem de sensibilæ laideea intrusului a lui Jean-Luc Nancy, m-am væzut ca un intrus ce întrerupe fluxu-rile regulate. În L’Intrus [Intrusul], Nancy scrie cæ „Din moment ce corectitudineamoralæ presupune cæ stræinul e primit prin øtergerea stranietæflii sale odatæ cu tre-cerea pragului, ea nu ne-ar îngædui astfel niciodatæ sæ îl primim. Însæ stræinul insistæøi intræ orice ar fi. Asta este ceea ce nu e uøor de acceptat øi, probabil, nici de conce-put“. Prin urmare, pe de-o parte am vrut sæ experimentez aceastæ condiflie a navetis-tului, pe care o numesc condiflia palindromului. – Un palindrom este un cuvînt oriun vers ce se citeøte la fel într-o direcflie øi în cealaltæ. – Aø spune cæ multiplicam

same backward or forward – I would say I was multiplying palin-dromes, several palindromes a day for a whole week, which meansgoing from A to B and from B to A, but neither A nor B, nor the pathbetween them being really important. I was not able to count howmany times I went back and forward. I totally lost the perception ofthe time I spent in there. On the other hand, I was intruding, break-ing the palindrome, I was breaking in, and I was testing people’sreception.¬ Your works seem to take pleasure from this translation of timethrough the means of your own body. And you seem to enjoy push-ing the experiment to the limit.√ Before doing this performance I was reading sociological litera-ture concerning the condition of the commuters, and some socio-logists are describing this as a schizophrenic condition. I don’t knowif this was because I read this literature before, but I felt this strong-ly, not necessary schizophrenia, but a strong feeling of displacementbetween A and B. B, which is work, is the place which you don’t nec-essarily desire, but A, which is home, becomes also a place that youdon’t desire. This is valid especially for the foreign women I encoun-tered in the train: hearing them made me understand that theirwork presupposed taking care of old people, which is always diffi-cult. I spotted signs of absence on people’s faces, they were seeingpeople and objects in the train but really not seeing them, and someof them were so alienated that they just looked at me and weretotally not interested. Since the first day I was just looking all aroundto learn what was going on, and observed that I, myself, was startingto lose interest, just like them: and so, for me, the physical travelbecame rather something like a mental travel. ¬ What kind of reactions did you encounter?√ Most of those who got in contact with me remained quite indif-ferent after looking puzzled at me, for a while. But then, again, manywere annoyed by the noises I was making. There was even a womanthat started to scream at me because she didn’t want to hear the

La Macchina che Produce il Tempo [Machine That Produces Time], 2010, frame video, credit: the artist

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palindromuri, mai multe palindromuri pe zi timp de o sæptæmînæ întreagæ, ceea ceînseamnæ sæ mergi de la A la B øi de la B la A, dar ca nici A øi nici B, øi nici drumuldintre ele sæ nu fie cu adeværat importante. Nu am fost în stare sæ numær de cîteori m-am dus øi am venit pe traseul acela. Am pierdut complet percepflia timpuluipe care l-am petrecut acolo. Pe de altæ parte, eram un intrus, forflîndu-mi intrareaîn palindrom, îmi forflam intrarea øi testam modul de receptare al oamenilor.¬ Lucrærile tale par sæ se bucure de aceastæ traducere a timpului prin intermediulpropriului tæu corp. Øi pare cæ îfli face plæcere sæ duci experimentul la limitæ.√ Înainte de a efectua acest performance, citisem lucræri de sociologie privindcondiflia navetiøtilor, øi unii sociologi descriu asta ca fiind o condiflie schizofrenicæ. Nuøtiu dacæ a fost datoritæ acestor lecturi anterioare, însæ am simflit-o intens, nuneapærat în termeni de schizofrenie, însæ ca un sentiment puternic de dislocare întreA øi B. B, care e muncæ, e locul pe care nu îl doreøti neapærat, dar A, care este acasæ,devine de asemenea un loc pe care nu fli-l doreøti. Acest lucru e valabil mai ales încazul femeilor venite din alte flæri pe care le-am întîlnit în tren: ascultînd ce vorbeau,mi-am dat seama cæ munca lor presupunea îngrijirea vîrstnicilor, care e mereu difi-cilæ. Am identificat semne ale absenflei pe chipurile oamenilor, ei vedeau oameniøi obiecte în tren, dar nu le vedeau cu adeværat, iar unii dintre ei erau atît de alienafli,încît se uitau pur øi simplu la mine øi erau complet dezinteresafli. Încæ din prima zi,doar privind în jur pentru a înflelege ce se petrece, am observat cæ pînæ øi eu înce-peam sæ-mi pierd interesul, la fel ca ei: øi astfel, pentru mine, cælætoria fizicæ a devenitmai curînd ceva precum o cælætorie mentalæ.¬ Ce fel de reacflii ai întîlnit?√ Majoritatea celor care au intrat în contact cu mine au ræmas destul de indiferenflidupæ ce mæ priviseræ contrariafli o vreme. Alflii însæ, destul de mulfli, erau iritafli dezgomotele pe care le fæceam. A fost chiar øi o femeie care a început sæ strige la minefiindcæ nu voia sæ audæ zgomotul maøinii. M-a întrebat: „De ce nu ai un birou? Dece stai aici?“ O altæ femeie mi-a cerut sæ înmînez aspirine tuturor pasagerilor øi amfost, totodatæ, acuzatæ de lipsæ de respect faflæ de oameni. Însæ au fost øi oamenicare mi-au vorbit despre cum au folosit ei maøini de scris în trecut. Cum era primadatæ cæ foloseam o maøinæ de scris, un bærbat m-a sfætuit cum sæ o utilizez într-unmod adecvat. Fæceam aøa de mult zgomot fiindcæ nu o utilizam corect, øi el mi-aarætat cum sæ fac mai puflin zgomot. Cu toate acestea, tactica mea a fost sæ nu abor-dez pe nimeni. Dacæ cineva se hotæra sæ mæ abordeze, ræspundeam. Am încercatøi sentimente de jenæ. Ceea ce scriam era un fel de jurnal, care e privat. Însæ cummæ foloseam de o maøinæ de scris, scrisul meu a devenit public, iar oamenii puteausæ-l citeascæ în timp ce îl dactilografiam. Øi uneori scriam despre ei: documentul deve-nea un fel de oglindæ pentru noi.¬ Nancy scrie cæ dacæ intrusul este flinut la o oarecare distanflæ, pe un fel de prag,datoritæ convenfliilor sociale ori pur øi simplu datoritæ corectitudinii politice, prezenflasa acolo accelereazæ, cu toate acestea, o insistenflæ de a fi luat în considerare. De laobraz la obraz nu e doar prezenfla, este øi asumarea conøtientæ a acestei insistenfle.√ De la obraz la obraz a luat naøtere din sentimentul de înstræinare pe care l-amresimflit în tren, de aceea am decis sæ privesc în ochii oamenilor øi sæ încerc o oare-care apropriere. Sæ le ating obrajii cu obrazul meu. Am început sæ studiez obrajiinavetiøtilor, examinîndu-le liniile, pielea, imaginîndu-mi posibilitatea de a-i aborda,imaginînd amestecul de plæcere øi fricæ din timpul actului.¬ De la obraz la obraz opereazæ asupra acestui spafliu privat artificial pe care øi-lcreeazæ oamenii în tren. Oamenii reuøesc mereu sæ construiascæ un spafliu unde sesimt în siguranflæ. Însæ în acest caz, le invadezi zona de siguranflæ øi nu mai ræmînenimic care sæ-i protejeze pe pasageri, la fel cum nu existæ protecflie nici pentru tine,fiindcæ nu pofli anticipa reacfliile.

noise of the machine. She asked me “Why don’t you have an office?Why are you staying here?“ Another woman asked me to hand inaspirins to all the passengers, and I was also accused of showing dis-respect to people. But there were also people telling me about howthey used typewriters in the past. Because this was the first time I was using a typewriter, a man suggested to me how to use it in aproper way. I was doing so much noise because I was not using itproperly, and he showed me how to make less noise. However, mypolicy was not to approach anyone. If someone decided to approachme, I answered. I also experienced embarrassment. What I was writ-ing was a sort of diary, which is private. But because I was using atypewriter my writing became public, and people could read it as I was typing it. And sometimes I was writing about them: the paperbecame a sort of mirror for us. ¬ Nancy writes that if the intruder is placed at some distance, onsome sort of threshold, because of social conventions or simplybecause of political correctness, his presence there speeds up, nev-ertheless, an insistence to be taken into account. Cheek to Cheek isnot simply presence, it is the conscious taking over of this insistence.√ Cheek to Cheek was born out of the feeling of estrangement thatI felt in the train, that’s why I decided to look in the eyes of peopleand to try a sort of appropriation. To touch their cheeks with mycheek. I started to study the commuter’s cheeks, examining theircurves, their skin, imagining the possibility of approaching them,imagining the mixture of pleasure and fear while doing the action. ¬ Cheek to Cheek operates upon this artificial private space thatpeople create in the train. People always manage to construct aspace where they feel safe. But in this case, you invade their circle of safety and there would be nothing protecting passengers, just likethere would be nothing protecting you either, because you cannotcalculate reactions.√ In this kind of train, the private space is always invaded. There isalways a sort of contact, as you can always feel the body of somebody

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√ În acest gen de tren, spafliul privat e mereu invadat. Existæ întotdeauna un felde contact, cîtæ vreme pofli simfli mereu corpul altcuiva – genunchii, mîinile etc. Daroamenii se prefac cæ nu o simt. Am vrut sæ o fac intenflionat. Dacæ în tren eøti supuscontactului involuntar, am vrut sæ væd ce se petrece în momentul în care contac-tul e voluntar. Îmi fixam privirea asupra unui navetist, prefl de cinci-øapte minute,stabilind astfel un prim contact, dupæ care realizam o comunicare la un nivel foarteelementar, punîndu-mi obrazul pe obrazul ei sau al lui. Uneori apropierea mea erarespinsæ, în unele cazuri era acceptatæ în mod pasiv, în altele reacflia de spaimæ eraputernicæ øi neaøteptatæ. A trebuit sæ mæ concentrez foarte tare pentru a-mi depæøipropriile anxietæfli în stabilirea unui contact cu trupul unei alte persoane. Trebuie sæîfli închipui cæ asta a fost foarte greu øi pentru mine, cæci eu însæmi eram nesiguræpe mine, mæ luptam cu mine însæmi, întrebîndu-mæ ce se va mai întîmpla. Însæ credcæ, în calitate de stræin, ca intrus, aceasta a fost doar o încercare de a încælca pra-gul, de a depæøi spafliul periferic unde, într-un mod „corect politic“, aøa cum spuneNancy, aø fi fost pusæ de oameni.¬ Ochii sînt...√ Ferestre? Cred cæ acolo unde este o problemæ, existæ ceva interesant deîntreflinut. La început am încercat sæ ating obrazul cuiva færæ a stabili un contact vizualîndelungat, dar mai apoi am înfleles cæ acest contact primar era ceea ce mæ fæceasæ înfleleg dacæ pot aborda pe cineva. Aøadar, a privi pe cineva în ochi era un modde a înflelege dacæ o acfliune poate fi continuatæ. Însæ eram totodatæ conøtientæ cæîn acel tren puteai întîlni oameni provenind din culturi diferite ale lumii, pentru careacest fel de contact ar fi de neînchipuit. În consecinflæ, am fost foarte precautæ. Amavut chiar o disputæ intensæ în cadrul unui colocviu, la sfîrøitul stagiului în rezidenflæ,cu artiøtii invitafli øi cu Cesare Pietroiusti; øi am discutat tocmai despre chestiunileprivitoare la actul performativ în spafliul public, despre etica performærii printre oamenietc. Însæ asta a fost în aceeaøi mæsuræ øi o provocare a convenfliilor sociale, øi o provo-care pentru mine însæmi. Acest proiect a fost propriu situafliei în care mæ aflam øicu siguranflæ nu l-aø mai repeta într-un alt context. De la obraz la obraz închide ciclulNavetiøti øi nu funcflioneazæ scos din context.

Traducere de Anca Bumb

else – the knees, the hands, etc. But people pretend that they don’tfeel it. I wanted to do it on purpose. If in the train one submits toinvoluntary contact, I wanted to see what happens when the contactis voluntary. I fixed my gaze on some commuter, for five-seven min-utes, thus establishing a first contact, and then achieve a very basiclevel of communication, by putting my cheek on her or his cheek.Sometimes my approach was rejected, in some cases it was passivelyaccepted, in some cases the scared reaction was strong and unex-pected. I had to reach a high level of concentration to overcome myown anxieties in getting in contact with the body of another unknownperson. You have to imagine that this was very hard for me as well,as I was always in self-doubt, I was struggling with myself, askingwhat would come next. But I think that, as a foreigner, as an intrud-er, this was just a gesture of breaking the threshold, of breaking the peripheric space where I would, in a politically correct manneras Nancy says, be put by people.¬ Eyes are…√ Windows? I think that where there is a problem, there is some-thing interesting to foster. At the beginning I tried to touch some-one’s cheek without establishing an eye contact for a long time, butthen I understood that it was this basic contact that made me under-stand whether I could approach somebody. So looking in some-body’s eyes was a way of understanding if an action could be carriedfurther. But I was also aware that in that train you could meet peoplecoming from different cultures of the world, for which this sort ofcontact would be unimaginable. I was very prudent, as it were. We actually had a strong debate at a talk, at the end of the residen-cy, with the invited artists and Cesare Pietroiusti; and we discussedexactly about issues regarding performing in the public space, aboutthe ethics of performing amongst people, etc. But this was equally a challenge of the conventions of society and a challenge for myself.This project was specific to the situation I was in and I am sure I wouldn’t repeat it in a different context. Cheek to Cheek closes thecircle of Commuters and it doesn’t function outside its context.