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Through different reflections on the constructive phase of "remembering" and the corporeality of the subject in the inhabited space, I presented the work Dreaming or not? (2017). The installation is composed of a luminescent bed arranged in a dark, inert and empty space, from where 95 transparent methacrylate knives hang from the ceiling above the bed by means of a nylon structure. Based on the study of the archetypal and stereotyped visual representation of sleep paralysis throughout art history, I wanted to pay homage to the work Eleanor's Dream (1795) by Vinzen Georg Kininger. In his work, he does not include the figure of the incubus in its prototypical position on the chest, but instead, one of the incubi holds a sharp dagger above the sleeper, introducing a new type of terrifying sensation. In this way, I wanted to elaborate an interactive installation where the viewer can lie on the bed, perceiving how the "daggers" fly over them, as a metaphor of Kininger's work, where there is an invisible danger lurking over the sleeper. The corporeal sensation at that moment transports us to an intimate space that moves away from the term "rest" to approach the illusory perception of "threat". Due to the transparency of the knives and their distance in relation to the ceiling and the bed – and consequently, to the subject, a slight breeze-like movement is produced that makes the attacking objects come to life as if they were dancing around the sleeper.

All rights reserved © Amaia Salazar - 2021

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