The impossible appointment

Installation. 17 mts. x 5 mts. x 3 mts.

Exhibition Rendez-Vous, Institut d’art contemporain, Villeurbanne/Rhône-Alpes, Lyon, France – September, 2009

“…I continue the detestable path of monotonous walls that is my destiny. Straight corridors that curve in secret circles over the course of years. If only this were the last day of waiting”
El Laberinto, Jorge Luis Borges

A woman travels to France, following the predictions of a fortune-teller: You will meet the love of your life in a traboule (passageway) in Lyon. Cutting across a darkened hallway we can make out a shaft of light that filters from her bedroom door, slightly ajar. Piano music can be heard. It is Vexations, by Erik Satie. The piece lasts two minutes and repeats constantly. On the desk, an unfinished letter reads:
Dear Amelia:
I arrived in Lyon two months ago, as yet with no news from the love of my life. I am beginning to suspect that the fortune-teller was not to be trusted. The traboules are quite familiar to me now, though I do continue to get as lost as I did at first. A few days ago, I decided to go out and wander around the passageways with paper and pencil in my bag (as well as a little stool for my comfort) and have decided to draw the views that I think are the prettiest. That way, time passes more quickly. My hope is that by staying in one place, busied with a task that may seem to be curious, he will find me instead of the other way around. I just have to wait. However, I must confess that at times I become so absorbed in the drawings that I forget the reason that brought me here… I’ve already told you about the music that continues to repeat in my head, like a litany… it’s beautiful and very sad… but there’s something about it… I don’t know… I can’t explain what it is and it drives me to keep going back to the labyrinths every day…