GNAP_Global Nomadic Art Project, Loire Valley, France 2017
“Transference” & “Confluence”
2 project collaborations between Sally Kidall & performance/video artist Cherie Sampson. They collaborated on several pieces during GNAP-France, including at the site of the confluence of the Loire and the Vienne Rivers, the Island at Souzay and for the final two-day installation project in Les Perrieres.
“Confluence”
Loire and Vienne rivers,
Turquant + Parc Naturel Régional
Photos: Sally Kidall, Performer Cherie Sampson
The artists both came to France, without prior discussion, with gauze fabrics with which to possibly work during the workshops. They brought the fabrics on several of the site visits. At the meeting place of the Loire and Vienne rivers , the artists made their work at the end of the sand bar where the waters of the two rivers mingle and diverge – simultaneously merging and dividing. Kidall & Sampson co-directed a video-performance by Cherie, in which two long swaths of sheer organza silk fabric, representing the two rivers, was manipulated. It was lifted by the wind, wafted to the ground, dragged into the water and wrapped around the body of the performer like the twirling actions of the currents and convergence of waters.
“Transference”
Les Perriéres
Doué-en-Anjou
France
Both artists were committed, before even arriving in France, to work as much as possible in the underground spaces during the GNAP. Thus, while all of the other artists were working on above-ground installations for the final two-day project, Kidall & Sampson descended underground to create their work in a former mushroom-growing cave that is currently not in use in Les Perrieres. Two days were spent in the cave’s many meandering network of chambers to shoot video as well as a series of still images. Prior to entering the cave for production, Kidall & Sampson constructed a large art object out of local wood and the sheer silk organza that they brought to France. The structure’s shape emulated those of the carved openings, passageways and other structural elements found in the caves of Les Perrieres. The art-object “prop” was carried into the caves and integrated into the performance shoots with the live action. Its translucent fabric contrasted with the solid, rough stone walls and further amplified the play of light and shadow in the dramatically lit (and underlit) “theatrical” and “gothic” interiors. The artists reflected on the chilly and dank underground as the unconscious, womb, underworld and escape. The culmination of two days shooting in the cave spaces culminated in a video-performance work called “Transference,” that explored the fine veil between presence and absence, corporeality and apparition.
Photos: Sally Kidall, Performer Cherie Sampson
“Troglodytes et Sarcophages” is a vast underground quarry and sarcophagi factory from the 5th to 8th century.
Improvised performance detail with performers Cherie Sampson & Donald Buglass. Photos: Sally Kidall
2017 GNAP_Global Nomadic Art Project
Sally Kidall 