karina de la torre
“A Rite” is a collaborative piece conceptualized by the artists who comprise the Agora Collective - Marcela Donato, Renata Har and Caique Tizzi - and the Mexican artist Kari Mayo, who has completed a three-week residency program at Agora - a network of cross-disciplines located in Neukölln.
This artwork is the outcome of the encounter between four artists who decided together to elaborate a rite in a two week-period to be presented as a final act at Instituto Cervantes.
All the artists, born in Latin America - Mexico and Brazil - found common interest to investigate the notion of rituals - the atemporal necessity of binding, belonging - the necessity to connect with others - that one can find through family, religion, friends, political views, relationships, causes, obsessions, art, gods.
The pictorial element of this rite came intuitively: shoes. So as did the scenario: the streets. Symbolically speaking, shoes represent contradictory meanings - the lowly and the humble, the authority and power - whilst barefoot represents liberty. Shoes resist. Few elements have stronger connection with the streets than shoes. The street is the line of passage, our rite of passage.
The concept of rites of passage was described by Arnold van Gennep to denote the time between young age and full inclusion into a social group. According to his theory, there are three phases of a rite: separation, transition and reincorporation. These described phases were also embodied in every step of the work.
Over 500 hundreds shoes were collected from friends, Agora’s community, and friends of friends. People who heard their bell ringing for our common obsession of collecting as many shoes as possible. With the intensive help of social networks the given mission was accomplished.
The shoes have been painted and the streets have been stamped with a washable, self-made colour produced specially for “A Rite” in order to occupy the streets cleanly and softly. White paint, with lots of pigment. Chalk-like wanted. The red. Revolution. Soft-power colour.
Each shoe has been placed on it’s own square, in corners of different neighbourhoods of Germany’s capital. A portrait of Berlin is being portrayed through it’s shoes. All the personalities, from the skater to the queen, the businessman, the clubber, the policeman, the artist, the bummer, the anonymous walker.
“A Rite” is an attempt to elaborate a piece that resists in our context - 2012, Berlin, our encounter, the streets and their citizens - a trial to compose a spatial choreography of passage. A rite of passage for all of us. A strategic logistics operation was required to implement and document “A Rite”, including 4 cars, 4 drivers, 4 photographers, and 150 shoes per car, spanning several routes across the neighbourhoods of Mitte, Kreuzberg, Friedrischain, Prenzlauer Berg and Neukölln.
“A Rite” explores the risk of involving a large numbers of participants and works accurately as the “catalyst” of ideas - rather than putting the artists at the centre - producing an experience that requires the engagement of the audience for elaboration of the ideal image: shoes hanging on cable; current in the streets all around the world - holding subjectivity, curiosity, speculation and several meanings.
“A Rite” assumes it’s lack of control and integrates many different worlds, stories, memories and trajectories. The piece works as a cross-path between the public and private sphere - bridging the streets and the institution - exploring the absence and claiming for the presence, a real presence.
Over 500 shoes are NOW in different places of the city of Berlin. If you have found a shoe you are part of “A Rite”, a collaborative piece conceptualized by Agora Collective - Marcela Donato, Renata Har, Caique Tizzi - and Kari Mayo to be presented at Instituto Cervantes in Mitte.
Please bring this shoe with you next Tuesday, the 30th of October 2012, to Instituto Cervantes in Rosenstraße 18-19 from 19h30 on. There you can find out the destiny of this shoe.
If you haven’t found a shoe on the streets, no worries, you are still a guest to “A Rite” and we hope to see you at the same place, at the same time.
Free Entrance.
Where: Instituto Cervantes - Rosentrasse, 18-19 Mitte
When: 30th of October 2012 from 19h30
More info about the artists:
www.agoracollective.org
www.karimayo.com
Executive Producer: Céline Huerta.————————————————-
Es hängen nun 500 Schuhe an verschieden Plätzen von Berlin. Wenn du einen Schuh gefunden hast, der Teil des des Projektes “A Rite” ist, das in Zusammenarbeit mit verschiedenen Künstlern - Marcela Donato, Renata Har, Caique Tizzi und Kari Mayo - von Agora Collective initiiert wurde und am Instituto Cervantes in Berlin Mitte präsentiert wird, dann bringe diesen Schuh am nächsten Dienstag, den 30. Oktober 2012 ab 19:30 Uhr, zum Instituto Cervantes in der Rosenstraße 18-19.
Auch wenn du keinen Schuh gefunden hast bist du mehr als willkommen dabei zu sein.
Der Eintritt ist frei.
Wo: Instituto Cervantes - Rosenstraße 18-19 in Berlin Mitte
Wann: 30. Oktober 2012 ab 19:30 Uhr
Mehr Informationen zu den Künstlern:
www.agoracollective.org
www.karimayo.comAusführende Produzentin: Céline Huerta
