The Spider Tunnel
Ohio, USA
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October 2020
In anticipation of the planet's many possible appearances around the Earth, we staged a test run at a site most likely to align with it on October 25, 2020, namely a long-abandoned train tunnel in Ohio. To help the planet traverse this dangerous part of its voyage, we constructed an effigy that it could follow to help it stay on track.
The effigy was strung on a line through the length of the tunnel and could be moved by a leash. We didn't know exactly when the planet would travel through the lasso and thus needed each person to individually guide the effigy, in the hope that one of us would coincide with the arrival and lead it safely through the passage.
In 10- to 12-minute intervals (the length of the audio segment), each person entered the tunnel, picking up the leash and starting the walk. The tunnel was faintly illuminated by static and flickering space debris; every guide also carried a small light to walk safely to the end. The voyage proceeded along invisible speakers on the tunnel walls, timed to let the guide stop and listen to each story before moving to the next. At the end of the passage, the guide turned around and brought the effigy back to the starting point for the next person.
The audio segments tend to seem random and unrelated, but a careful listening will reveal the dangerous underlying formula, powerful enough to transport an entire planet back through space. We learned that in all instances, the guides must be careful not to get entrapped in the lasso themselves.
In the test run, everyone performed marvelously. Some of us very distinctly felt the presence of the planet, quietly accompanying us in the brief moment in which our paths aligned.
Exquisite corpse segments, in order of appearance:
John Law | Mii Gunn | Christopher Beauchamp | Shel Kimen | Joe Ford | Mars Snible | Phat Man Dee | Joshu DeLeon
All segments written by performers