Et preguntarem, com si poguessis respondre

Text: Anna Dot

Synopsis

Bleigiessen is a ritual of probably Celtic origins that is popularly carried out on New Year’s Eve in Germany. It consists of melting pieces of tin (in the past it was made with lead) with the help of a candle. At the moment of dissolving them, a question is formulated related to the future of the year that begins. Afterwards, the molten tin is thrown into the water, which immediately cools it giving it a solid form that is removed and interpreted as a possible answer to the question posed.

Within the framework of an investigation into non-human languages ​​and forms of communication with water, this ritual is presented as a possibility to obtain manifestations of water which, in our eyes, result in asemic writing. We cannot understand them, they are written in a language we do not know. Even so, the ritual allows us to maintain some kind of relationship with the water, in which we ask it questions and it offers us some answers. That is why, both in the video “We will ask you, as if you could answer us”, and in the performance of the same name, questions are formulated directly related to the life of water, such as: “when were you born?”, “what is the first landscape you saw?”, “have you ever known love?”, “are you afraid of something?”, “what is your death like?”, among others.

The answers are the pieces of tin that result from these acts. Solid and silent answers in a very mysterious language.

Video presented at the “Nocturn de l’aigua” exhibition, at Bombon Projects (Barcelona), from November 16, 2023 to January 19, 2024, and as part of the Loop Festival.