Inspired by spring fertility rituals, this performance was presented in a garden in front of a church in Poughkeepsie on the campus of the Vassar school, for an exhibition. A structure made out of ropes, ladders and sheets was built in a gigantic tree. The school’s dance troupe appropriated the structure for the duration of the performance. In sheets installed as cocoons, dancers sleep then emerge from them, while other go up and down the structure, playing with precarious balancing points. The performance took place in winter so the tree has no leaves, which allows the dancers to play on the network of lines in the form of branches and ropes installed by the artist. The tree becomes a living space. The question of living spaces for the community is present in several of Matta-Clark’s works, namely in behavioural questions as in Automation House and in rituals such as the meals at Food.

Patricia Maincent

Translated by Anna Knight