First the air is blue and then
it is bluer and then green and then
black I am blacking out and yet…

Adrienne Rich - Diving into the Wreck (1972)

Wassertanz is an invitation to dive under the surface and explore dormant life in submarine worlds, mesmerized by bioluminescent plankton and eager to discover what hides in the deep. Contemplating the ocean, we begin to dissolve; we pour ourselves out; we slip into an unconscious state. The material of water is the substance where nature crafts the castles of our dreams, immersing, surrounding, echoing our selves as individuals –and as a society.

In this upside-down sky, the world becomes double, the images reflected on the surface melt within those that live in the tide. The birds, swimming, turn into fish, and the star-isles shimmer on the surface of the ocean… 

Created by Tereza Bartůňková and Diane Barbé as an evolving series of live performances, installations and research, Wassertanz is an audio-visual project which aims to present, disturb and reconstruct a narrative of pressure and vibration. It also seeks to associate female artists from different cultural and artistic backgrounds, at the intersection of sound art, experimental music, theater, and audiovisual performance. It proposes a descent from the surface to the Midnight Zone, floating through clouds of light and sound organisms… 

Wassertanz started in October 2019 as a research residency on the Óbidos laguna in Portugal.

Text: Diane Barbé