Performance
Antena experimented with a variety of performative modes, in addition to considering the basic act of interpretation as a performative act. We conducted these performances in various settings: at the Millay Colony in 2013, in our 2014 installation at the Blaffer Museum and at various other settings. Here is some of the documentation of those experiments:
At Millay Colony in 2013
This initial experiment in discomfortable writing was featured on Floor. What we said about the experiment there:
“This improvised discomfortable text-generating experiment is based on a repeating, spiraling practice of collaborative interpretation and addition, for which we invented a few key constraints to guide us. We began with one text fragment in Spanish, chosen by one of us without the other’s knowledge: in this instance, by Uruguayan poet and queer studies innovator, Virginia Lucas. This text was immediately interpreted into English by the listener, who then added one text fragment in English—in this instance, by New York poet and recuperative strategist, Rachel Levitsky. After the reading and initial interpretation of each of our “found” texts, every time one of us “interpreted,” we added a line or two of our own devising, for a total of five sets of improvised “interpretations.” Our rules were that we had to take new notes on a new sheet of paper or cover our old notes every time we were interpreting (to avoid simply transferring notes and/or memorizing text blocks) and that we could return to the same original text by Lucas or Levitsky if we wanted to include more lines of theirs rather than improvised lines of our own.”
To read the resulting, very discomfortable poem please visit Floor.