Jacob’s Ladder, 2014
This performance commented on the very recent history of war in the Middle East and its effects on the lives of individuals. Evacuation operations in Vietnam, Somalia and Iraq are reminders of difficult situations that happen in conflict.
The hope for rescue and need for a mythical ‘act of god’ to avoid total desperation and abandonment are the main concerns of this project. The powerful image of the last evacuation operation in Saigon with a ladder hanging from the final helicopter is a portrait of hope and the contemporary saviour. In Christianity, the ladder symbolizes Jesus, who saved humanity by reuniting the earth and heaven.The helicopter connects heaven and earth as the ladder did in Jacob’s dream as described in the bible.
The performance focused on the poetic moment when human salvation and redemption come into play on the battlefield. Fear, desperation and desire for salvation are still present in contemporary war. The noise and drama of the helicopter’s arrival at the place of performance was a theatrical moment, perhaps hinting towards a lighter idea of celebrity–but the suggestion of military threat and action signified something else to the audience. The statement that echoed through the performance space, although reassuring, suggested the fear of being somewhere dangerous and chaotic, the costs of war, the lack of security offered by the state, and the ultimate futility of political and intellectual elites.