The Shredders

The Shredders
2011
performance
duration: ~22 min
developed during a residency in the studios at Avatar, Quebec City
documentation: – photo©Elias Djemil – video camera©Frédérique Laliberté – video editing©Diane Landry

 2011

  • Les déchiqueteuses, Integração | action, organized by Le Lieu, SESC Pinheiros, São Paulo (Brazil).
  • Les déchiqueteuses, Le Printemps des poètes, presented by Avatar, Studio P, Quebec City (Quebec, Canada).

Three rolls of paper 30 metres long and 30 cm wide are placed side by side. On each of them can be seen an approximately one-metre section of drawings which file past as the rolls are fed into paper shredders. At times, the three bands produce incongruous iconic associations or make up a single image. The unspooling of these “animated” drawings takes place only once, as they are completely destroyed as soon as they are revealed. In addition, each paper mill has a micro-contact which amplifies the sound of the destructive machines and creates a highly abrasive concert of sounds. At the end of the performance, a mountain of shredded paper, immaculate and without identity, lies strewn on the ground.