The Body I Once Climbed

The Body I Once Climbed is a video installation enhanced by a live performance that explores the interaction between the body, landscape, and the porosity of borders. Its title is taken from the eponymous poetry collection by Palestinian poet Asma Azaizeh. Presented as a diptych, the film was shot simultaneously in Amorgos (Greece) and Jericho (Palestine). Two dancers interact with the cliffs of their respective locations: one attempts to penetrate them, while the other seeks to escape. Both figures, captive in their respective landscapes, try to connect through screens, without seeing, hearing, or touching each other. Guided by an invisible force, their movements draw a parallel between the physical boundaries of the screen-object and the control screens imposed by the geographical borders separating them.A 3-minute and 27-second diptych video is projected onto a central wall. The sound is diffused in quadraphony. The left screen shows the performance in Greece, where a dancer pushes against the rock face in an attempt to defy its solidity. The right screen reflects this action with a dancer in Palestine, whose movements, oscillating between retreat and rest, explore themes of shelter and resistance. Beneath the projection, a pile of stones evokes the materiality of the landscapes, suggesting fragments fallen or displaced by the movements of the bodies.On the side walls, two additional screens display live surveillance camera footage filmed from the cliffs where the performances took place. These streams activate the installation, as the dancers periodically return to the performance locations. The placement of these screens on the floor, close to the walls, forces the audience to slide, bend, crowd, or interpose themselves to see the image. Depending on their arrival time, the audience will either witness empty scenes or scenes occupied by the dancers.