A Space That Is No Place

Format: Performance and installation, performed by participating audience members
Materials: Eight plywood triangular sculptures, each with one reflective side and one black side
Dimensions: 12 x 12 x 12 ft
Year: 2017
Part of the Geometry of Exile performance series

A Space That Is No Place is part of the performance series Geometry of Exile, an embodiment of the artist’s journey as an immigrant. The audience is invited into a cubic room to perform with eight plywood sculptures. The triangular pieces begin arranged in a line, each reflective on one side and black on the other. Participants may only walk and stand on the surfaces of the wooden triangles.

The performer disrupts the linear formation by rolling the triangles forward and backward on their sides, without overlapping or stacking them. Eventually the performer moves along with the triangles, in the direction they unfold, from one place to another. Moving oneself through this puzzle-like arrangement of voids, shadows, and reflections conjures an ever-shifting landscape inside the cubic form.