Agarre del Sur 2019. Public action/union ritual. With Linda Verkaaik. Location: Carmen Convent in Valencia
SOUTHERN GRIP
'In the modern world, we have developed many systems for communicating, but there is less and less physical interaction.'
The project consists of a union ritual, a physical action.
Participants hold hands and pour liquid plaster prepared with water from the Valencia sea between their hands.
Rituals involving salt are common in many cultures, including those used to seal alliances. Salt also gives an extra boost to the setting of the plaster and increases its heat.
Clasped hands of acquaintances and strangers who remain motionless for 15 minutes, feeling the heat, also generate additional impulses:
increases sensory awareness, concentration, communication, laughter, etc.
At the end of the ritual, the invisible bond between the people has transformed into solid matter. Countless traces remain, like fossils.
They are a tangible and lasting symbol of human action in situ.