Walk, Hands, Eyes (Plymouth)

Plymouth (various locations), 2016

Artist Myriam Lefkowitz

Client Plymouth Art Weekender

My Role Lead Producer for Situations

Date 23 / 24 / 25 September 2016

Delve Deeper Read an article and watch a short film of the guide’s perspective of participating in Walk, Hands, Eyes.

Read an interview with artist Myriam Lefkowitz.

Watch a short film documenting the walks across the weekend.

Photo: Paul Blakemore Courtesy Situations

The project

I felt as if I went to heaven – losing responsibility and handing over to my guide. Lights, sounds, voices, breeze. I stopped being aware of my body, floating – and then you brought it back again through touch. Time slowed right down and I was reminded how precious life is.
– Participant, Walk Hands Eyes (Plymouth)

Commissioned as part of Plymouth’s Art Weekender in September 2016, Myriam Lefkowitz was invited, along with performers and residents of Plymouth, to guide a series of one-to-one walks across the city – asking each person, “I’m going to take you by the hand and ask you to close your eyes.”

Artist Myriam Lefkowitz’s ongoing project Walk, Hands, Eyes (a city) examines the relationship formed between a city and its inhabitants. Over the course of an hour’s silent walk through a city, a participant and a guide form an immersive relationship with their surroundings through the simple acts of walking, seeing, and touching.

Produced by Situations, Myriam, along with performers and residents of Plymouth, guided a series of 100 walks across the city, engaging participants aged from five to seventy one years old. To offer this many walks created an opportunity for 8 local guides to work with Myriam’s team to learn the skills required to perform the artwork – passing on the precious gift to Plymouth to continue these walks long after the artist has left. Conducted in silence, during each walk both guides and participants stepped into the city and experienced the world around them in a new way – collecting sensations, sounds, stories and experiences like never before. 

Hands, Light, shadows, steps steps steps. The light and dark was interesting, it gave form and shape. It became solid and state. My hands extended to my arm and shoulder, which knew its space like a rudder to a ship. My legs grew rhythm and my chest grew large with confidence and stride. I felt for the walk, not the silence. 
– Participant, Walk Hands Eyes (Plymouth)

Photos: Paul Blakemore Courtesy Situations

The artist

Myriam Lefkowitz is a performance artist, based in Paris. Since 2010, her research has focused on questions of attention and perception, through different immersive devices involving one spectator and one performer. Her work has been presented at the Venice Biennale, at Le Nouveau festival in Pompidou Centre (Paris), for the Public Art Agency (Sweden), at the Center for Contemporary Art (Vilnius), for the Buenos Aires dance festival, among others. She has spoken at the Museum of Modern Art Georges Pompidou (Paris), The Palais de Tokyo (Paris), Open School East (London), la HEAD (Geneva), the Royal Institute of Art (Artistic Research and Development, Stockholm), the School of Architecture (Versailles).

I wondered for a moment if this was how the universe felt before it expanded. Even when you are so close to people, you can very rarely achieve that level of intimacy

Participant
Walk Hands Eyes (Plymouth)

My eyes, feet and fingers became my only connection with the world. Disorientation became a joy, a trick.

Participant
Walk Hands Eyes (Plymouth)

I drifted through space with a reassuring touch that seemed to be anything but human. I did not want to open my eyes.

Participant
Walk Hands Eyes (Plymouth)

My Role

Georgina worked as Lead Producer of Walk, Hands, Eyes (Plymouth) for the Public Art Producers Situations. This involved a two week on location production with Myriam, her team and 8 local guides, audience/participant care and logistics, stakeholder management, communications, engagement materials and press.

With Thanks

With special thanks to our guides and performers
Myriam Lefkowitz, Julie Laporte, Fran Cogni, Jean-Philippe Derail, Susan Holmes, Nuku Wonderausch, Hannah Wood, Louise Riou Djukic, Elena Brake, Rosie Race, Shelley Hodgson and Ben Roddell.

Produced for the Plymouth Art Weekender with support from Plymouth Culture and Barbican Theatre.

Photo: Paul Blakemore Courtesy Situations