The Dream Passes by the Windows
Swiss Institute, NY New York
Photography by Walter Wlodarczyk
In The Dream Passes by the Windows I simultaneously record a close up on the hands in action, disembodied and kneading the dough as if they have a mind of their own. The dough takes on characteristics of the body. Its form is visceral, otherworldly but also familiar. An observer gazes at the the disembodied stand-in for flesh and is confronted with a traumatic event, both mesmerize and repelled.
The performance is accompanied by a melancholic score that uses sirens and a theremin recording of Gershwin's "Summertime". The climax of the performance sees blood-red beet puree being added to the mound of dough as the Ukrainian lullaby "Oy Khodyt Son Kolo Vikon" or "The Dream Passes by the Windows"is played.
"Summertime" has been considered to be an amalgamation of African American spiritual "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child" and the Ukrainian Yiddish lullaby Pipi-pipipee. Moreover, some have suggested that some part of Gershwin's inspiration may have come from being affected by the Ukrainian lullaby Oi Khodyt Son Kolo Vikon. Each song evokes a sadness but a desire to ease an intangible pain.
