SOMAPHORE (first steps in the research draft of Daughters of the Air) IS A LIVE ART INSTALLATION WITH THE CITY AS ITS STAGE.
SOMPAHORE IS A PARTICIPATORY PROJECT.
SOMAPHORE IS ABOUT LOOKING AT A CITY IN A NEW WAY, IT’S ABOUT MARGINAL SPACES, TAKING CARE AND CONNECTING WITH OTHERS AT THE EDGE OF THE FAMILIAR.
We research the idea of an unbroken thread of communication between bodies as a link through (broken) urban landscapes. We elaborate on the conversation between bodies linking sky and street, ask questions about how we inhabit and discard the built environment, draw out dialogue between citizens and their cities, between neighbours and neighbourhoods. We create new perspectives, where bodies move through buildings & remain visible from the street. We accentuate the necessity of the body as a device for social connectivity. Through the act of elevating bodies to rooftops, top floors and balconies we slow down city time, frame and make visible the existing matrix, the webs that thread continuous terrains through cities.
SOMAPHORE IS A DANCE PERFORMANCE.
IT IS A LIVING LINE OF MESSENGERS ACROSS THE CITY’S ROOFTOPS.
THE MESSENGERS TAKE THEIR PLACE ALONG A PREDETERMINED ROUTE THAT CLOSELY CONNECTS TO THEIR HOMES.
THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THEM IS DETERMINED BY VISIBILITY AND CONNECTION.
A MESSAGE BEGINS AT THE FURTHEST IN-LAND END AND TRAVELS, BODY TO BODY, TO THE OCEAN: ACROSS THE SKYLINE, ROOFTOPS, BALCONIES, THROUGH A BUILDING, TO STREET LEVEL AND OUT TO A BOAT, TO SEA.
IN SITUATIONS OF GROSS UNCERTAINTY, WE WILL TRY TO MEET EACH OTHER.
ALAIN DE BOTTON
Cape Town March 2018 Pilot
Credits for performers: Hannah Loewenthal,
Nicola Visser; Gita Daitz
Photography: Noah Rudolf; Alice Buckley