This project was a collaboration with a choreographer Son of Mom, who created a performance he called W3.
SonOfMom reflects about the W3 as “a choreographic gesture which problematizes the current state of European democratic affairs and identity whilst projecting on archetypal constructs of a woman through the exposure of three artists; a Mother, a Goddess and a Witch. Alya Hessy, Isadora Tomazi and Tiana Hemlock are three artists carrying a story of birth, life and destruction all expressed through channels of the artists’ womanhood. SonOfMom views them as a shield to the world. SonOfMom asks them to stand up for themselves. These are the role models that SonOfMom grew up with and they are to be voiced.”
Having received the responsibility of the costumes, Alya transformed her concept of a surface and a slit (Red and Empty project) and created simple silk robes. At the end of the performance the robes are removed and installed in the space, where they turn back to their basic shape: a rectangle and a slit.
Performed at:
● March 31-April 1&2 2016 – Veem House of Performance, Amsterdam
● April 14 2016 – Uferstudios, Berlin
– One – She was spinning around In the egg-shaped space Defined by her body movements. Her head was turning left and right in a swaying circular motion. A thin thread connected her mouth to the space close to her. There was nothing else, But her, shaping the space around herself into a cocoon. The line of pure silk started with her desire of seclusion And would end only when she is content And falls still Ready for her transformation. – Two – The silk threads were stretched tightly next to each other. The woman threaded them one by one through the heddles of her weaving loom. This was the warp. One thousand thin lines forming a precarious surface. She started weaving. Every other thread was lifted now Making room for another thread to pass through. This was the weft. Over and under. The weft was going through the warp. Over and under. A tight surface was being formed. Precise and methodical. Over and under. There was something soothing about it. Something to hold on to. A system. A network. Fabric. They say, the warp is what is given in life and the weft is what happens in it. – Three – I am holding a piece of silk fabric in front of me. It is almost transparent. I can see through it, though it colours my vision and slightly blurs it. It is almost weightless. As I sigh, it sways gently away, moved by the air from my longs. It is perfect With its structure of threads going over and under And over and under again. There is no space for me here. I am looking at its perfection, mesmerised and silent. I am looking at its plain surface and feel overwhelmed. I am looking at it and wonder, is there a way for me to enter? I grab the scissors and cut a line through the surface. It splits in two and I can see the space in between. (text written and performed by Alya Hessy for W3)
