Ana Čavić
A thread without end, Act IV.2-10 December 2023
Open: Sat-Sun 1-6pm
Performance:
Saturday 2 December 4pm.............................................................................................................................
A thread without end, Act IV
Ana Čavić
Holding a closed fan that lengthens and exaggerates her gestures, the wrist twists as her arm circles in front of the body in a rhythmic flourish and the head turns away from you as the eyelids lower.
In Ana Čavić’s storytelling performance Act IV, the fourth in her ongoing and potentially never-ending performance storytelling cycle A thread without end (2017-), a combination of gestures, facial expressions and deft manipulation of the fan into different positions is used to surreptitiously articulate a repertoire of feelings.
Čavić’s “visual performance storytelling” is a contemporary interpretation of cantastoria, a traditional theatrical storytelling style in which the performer tells a story while pointing to a visual aid that both illustrates the narrative and prompts the performance by serving as a mnemonic device – a ‘story map’. In each act of A thread without end Čavić similarly uses visual aids to guide the audience through four different story maps – an analogue large-format hand-painted scroll (Act I), a digitally enhanced graphite drawing in the shape of a large, tiled map (Act II), a digitally augmented paper-cut theatre (Act III), and a set of folding hand fans (Act IV).
Through “theatrical poeticization”[1] Čavić conjures sumptuous visual scenes alongside her verse stories, to immerse audiences in her theatrical audio-visual storytelling performances. For Act IV a set of eleven, specially designed, folding hand fans, corresponds to a set of eleven poems. The performance consists of Čavić simultaneously voicing and enacting the poems, with the aid of each corresponding fan referencing a highly codified ‘flirting’ or ‘seduction’ ‘fan language’ dating from the 18th century. Act IV is the culmination of Čavić’s research into the history of fan language, particularly its innovative use by female performers, alongside speech, as both a visual and gestural language in 18th century Western theatre. Čavić’s performance aims to bring fan language to life for contemporary audiences and make “the fan speak for itself”.[2]
The exhibition at Five Years is envisioned as a dress rehearsal for the forthcoming premiere of A thread without end: Act IV at Glej Theatre, Ljubljana (December 2023). It sets out to lift the curtain on the backstage production of Act IV to give visitors a behind-the-scenes view of its development from page to stage. It features the original set of eleven elaborately hand-painted fan designs, which Čavić subsequently made into a set of folding hand fans, a selection of which are also on display; video documentation of a rehearsal for the performance; and a live performance at the exhibition opening during which Čavić will vocally, visually and gesturally enact a selection of poems from Act IV. As well as bringing the language of fans to life, the performance will activate a tableau vivant, a walk-in installation inspired by Čavić’s research into historical fan decoration, a separate visual language which she has absorbed into her scenic practice for Act IV.
Act IV is the most recent episode in an ever-evolving story that unravels across the acts like a thread without an end.
[1] Zumthor, P. (1990) Oral Poetry: An Introduction, trans. K. Murphy-Judy, intro. W. J. Ong, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, p. 39.
[2] Sofer, A. (2003) The Stage Life of Props, An Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press, p. 118.
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The artist book Mythopoeias is a hybrid publication
combining collages and visual poetry.Published by rostfreipublishing: 2023
Extent: 112 pages
Dimensions: 27 x 22 cm
Edition: 200
Binding: soft bound
.............................................................................................................................Five Years:
Unit 2B1 Boothby Road, Archway, London, N19 4AJ
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