Perjovschi’s early works focused on the physical body as an actor and store of knowledge. She intentionally chose her own apartment, the urban space, and even the university as a setting for her actions. This was also the case for the performative experiment The Magic of the Gesture (Laces) (1989), which she produced in November 1989 in camera with 12 students from various faculties at the Bucharest Academy of Art. In this work, the artist wraps laces around the participants’ arms and legs while they sit in a circle. Each person is thereby connected to four other people and every individual movement affects the whole group. Over time and depending on the movements, the pressure caused by the bands becomes stronger: “Some try to stand up, they get caught in the network at the beginning but they undo their laces when these become unbearable. Some regretted the laces, the connections, others didn’t.” (Lia Perjovschi) The action was accompanied by the improvisations of jazz musician Decebal Badila.

Public Art Bucharest | Spaţiul Public Bucureşti

Jan 24, 2009 – Feb 13, 2009