S L A C K

Rope is a single-channel video of the artist tying basic knots and loops with a strand of white cotton rope. The knots are repeated slowly with grace and precision, yet as the knots are repeated it becomes apparent the artist is incapable of performing the task successfully. 

In theory, knots weaken the rope; the bending, crushing, and chafing forces the knot to stress rope fibers and ultimately lead to a reduction in strength. The performers are suspended on rope; the mechanisms that cause the weakening, and eventual failure of the rope, are a study of the ongoing tension between live performance and skill.

Sound by Leif Gordon-Bruce.