How can we make visible the invisible connections between the observer's body and the observed artwork? How can we describe these connections and make them manifest through movement, gesture, and word? How can we bring onto the same plane the represented “past” and the “present” of each visitor?
À distância de um braço ["At arm's length"] is a performance that calls for an intimate relationship with some of the most iconic works at the MNAA (National Museum of Ancient Art), where gesture and word seek to reveal the invisible connections between the body of the observer and the artwork being observed, but gazing back at us in turn. What if, during a visit to the museum, someone drew our attention to the resemblance between a detail of our own face and a feature in one of the paintings on display? And what if, from that connection between the painting and our body, a back-and-forth emerged — of gestures and words — between the painting’s characteristics — its implicit movement, its history — and our condition as visitors?
Direction, choreography, and text | Sofia Dias & Vitor Roriz
Performed by | Francisca Pinto, Noah Rees, S&V
Costumes | José António Tenente
Sound | Sofia Dias
Sound operation | Tiago Cerqueira
SD&VR administration | Cátia Mateus
Production | SD&VR Lda
Support | Estúdios Vítor Córdon