As it was at the Begining
Como era en un Principio
Video Scenography, Sergio Nieto.
Performance, Maria José Chica.
Como era en un Principio, Dir. Ana María Fonseca.
Julio Mario Santodomingo Major Theater.
April 16, 2011. 8 p.m.
Bogotá, D.C.
This music Project Directed by Ana María Fonseca, brings back hispanic music from the XVI and XVII century, called "Barroco Mestizo". The artist María José Chica proposed as a performance for the Scenography, the act of weaving together threads to make a fabric. The performance is quite relevant due to the fact that it simplifies the context of the time of the music played. The manual creation of fabrics is an expression of the past, as the local cultural heritage of sewing at home. The video contrasts with the image of a simpler way of living life, with less technology.
Given those motivations, I proposed to record the action from above, and create the point of view of the weaver. This image suggests that the viewer is the person weaving, it reinforces the possibility to be related with the time context of the music.
The performance lasts for 1 hour and 30 minutes, so when the audience comes into the theater, the hands have been already weaving for about 5 minutes. And by the end of the concert, all the audience may leave and the hands will still be weaving a long piece of fabric that is falling from the needles.