Feb 6, 2018
COLLECTIVE NARRATIVES
Do You Remember?
Assignment:
Create a narrative centered around a space
Concept:
Do You Remember? is an immersive narrative performance and spatial installation that investigates memory, ritual, and the unfolding of life within sacred spaces. The work reconstructs a church aisle and altar using arranged seating and dynamic color projections, inviting viewers to inhabit a space charged with personal and collective remembrance.
Tracing sacred spaces through poetic narratives
The performance follows the life of a single individual from childhood to adulthood, highlighting significant milestones such as baptism, communion, marriage, parenthood, and mourning.
At each stage, the actor enacts gestures and movements corresponding to these rites, while a poetic voice recites a layered narrative that asks, "Do You Remember?"—prompting reflection on memory, continuity, and the intimate passage of time.
Do you remember?
The aisle, after passing through the big doors, is the long middle aisle
and the chairs, yes, the same chairs, are always there
with different colors, in different places, with different faces
We walk down towards the altar, and sit, then we kneel to pray
and you, always there, in this place, at the end of the chairs
in a sacred space, your altar
Yes, I do remember!
looking at me, saying that you had loved me
but I do not want to remember
The installation examines how personal and cultural memory coalesce in physical spaces, exploring the tension between presence, absence, and remembrance.
The seating arrangement is designed to create a central aisle that leads to the altar, recreating the layout of a Catholic church. Throughout the performance, the actor uses choreographed movements, transitioning from kneeling to standing and changing from white garments to darker clothing. These actions symbolize the journey from childhood to the end of life. Projections of the altar change colors to evoke shifts in time, mood, and ritual context, enhancing the immersive experience.
The repetition of gestures, combined with the auditory poetry, creates a dialogue between the performer and the audience, inviting participants to inhabit the emotional and ritual rhythm of the work. This layered engagement transforms the church aisle into a site of reflection, memory, and communal resonance.
Medium & Techniques
Poetry, performance, choreographed movement, spatial installation, projection mapping, narrative audio, immersive lighting.