Barricade (Ruptures) / performance

Naama Tsabar’s (IL, 1982, based in New York) practice fuses elements of sculpture, music, performance and architecture. Her works expose hidden spaces and systems, rethink gendered narratives and transform the visual experience into one of active participation. She draws attention to what is silent and invisible by propagating sound through space and sculpture. Working with local communities of female performers and gender non-conforming people, she continues to write a new feminist and queer history.

Barricade (Ruptures) is an installation made up of 46 microphones and microphone stands, arranged in three formations: a circle, a square and a triangle respectively. The microphone cables cover the floor in a graphic and spatial composition, reflecting the trajectory of the sound transmitted. Each section of the barricade emits sound through a dedicated loudspeaker. The spatial arrangement of the microphone stands acts as both a barrier and a facilitator, as the performance space is physically and acoustically delimited. During the performances, each of the three performers sings at the centre of one of the installations. Outside the performances, the entire installation remains plugged in and visitors are free to use it. As well as providing a sonic, visual and spatial experience, Barricade (Ruptures) also has a metaphorically political dimension. Indeed, the microphone and the dissemination of speech and sound are also instruments of power and control. Those who have the power of speech and the ability to broadcast it control the messages and their content, and control who they are intended for and who is deprived of them.