Murus, 2017

In Murus, craft is performed as a ritualized process of making and unmaking. The word murus means ‘wall’ in Latin, but it is also the name of the clay-covered avatar buried within the wall who is unearthed and reanimated during the 90-minute live performance.

The heavy, wet clay in Murus forms a rigid, divisive wall at the center of the stage. But as the wall is slowly and laboriously torn down by three women in workwear, the material of division becomes soft and changeable. Many things are buried in the oppressive stickiness of the clay which are, then, released and decontextualized, becoming tools of liberation and ceremonial renewal.

Murus invites the audience to imagine a future that is softer, kinder and more empathic; where we work together to excavate grief and isolation and transform it into healing. In Murus, the body is not a spectacle to admire or to shame, but a vessel of aliveness and an instrument of transcendence. Clay: earth-based, timeless, pleasurable, plastic is a platform for rebirth and renewal.

Performed at Squirrel Haus Arts in Minneapolis, MN. November, 2017

Music composed and performed live by Erin O’Neill and Ben Oliver.

Performers: Sayge Carroll, Maja Bendtsen, Gray Ramsey and Summer Hills-Bonczyk.