San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI), 800 Chestnut Street at Jones

Darryl Sapien with Michael Hinton, Synthetic Ritual (21st December 1971)

Description

Opposing forces, represented by two performers painted opposite colors, emerge from walls at either end of a room. Blindfolded and connected to ropes extending from the walls they meet at the center of the room inside a circle of steer manure where they begin a physical interaction. Gradually the encounter escalates from blind exploration to a contest of strength. Soon the performers begin to wrestle and as they struggle on the ground the opposite colors of their bodies blend into a uniform gray. (Sapien 2013)