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In his exhibition The egg, the cat and the poem, were surface tears (Konsthall C 2019), artist and choreographer Pontus Pettersson stages a series of encounters between objects and bodies, creating a exhibition as the piece itself within the space, visitors are presented with diverse manifestations of the artist’s visual language – eggs of various sizes, from those you can hold in your hand to those large enough for several people to enter, are situated amongst shelves of books with mirrored silver covers, framed by the artist’s distinctively patterned ‘wallpaper’. Within this aesthetic terrain, performers can be found in different postures or engaged in movements of varying speeds, producing a performative environment without beginning or end. Visitors are invited to participate in three distinct yet overlapping scores, enacted at different moments with and through the objects. Flowing into one another, these choreographies create an atmosphere in which bodies become malleable, at the same time soflty alert. Through an engagement with practices of listening, the postures of the socially coded body are softened, instigating a different kind of sociality within the space of the exhibition. Poetry here can be considered as a gesture of generosity, in which the speaking body takes care of the listening body. Often understood as something private and individual, the practice of poetry becomes something shared. In the choreography, these elements come together to form a constellation in the moment: from a single word, a universe of meanings arise.

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Performers: Alice MacKenzie, Oskar Landström, Sepideh khodarahmi, Maryam Nikandish, Louise Kvarby, Mickey Mahar, Maria Naidu, Eliisa Erävalo, Janine Harrington, Daniela Escarleth Romo Pozo, Sandra Lolaks, Robert Malmborg, Mario Fjell, Sybrig Dokter, Oda Brekke, Sophie Augot, Adina Fohlin, Eleanor Campbell, Andrea Svensson, Lydia Östberg Diakité, Alica Tserkovnaja, Elinor Tollerz Bratteby, Am Ertl, Lisen Ellard, Ellen Söderhult, Elise Nuding, Klara Utke Acs, Aurore d’Audiffret, Samuel Draper, Peter Mills, Marianna Suikkanen Gomez, Tiran Willemse, David Strid, Paolo de Venecia Gile

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The exhibition was made through support by the city of stockholm and the swedish arts council, a big thank you too: Malin Kent, Tina Pettersson, Tobias Pettersson, Gian Monti, Frida Sandström, Hannah Zafiropoulos, Masha Taavoniku, Adriano Wilfret Jensen, Karina Sarkissova, Andrea Svensson, c.off, Simon Acensio, Klara Utke, Acs, Alice MacKenzie, Diana Orving, Ashik Zaman, Vink Essåplast Group, AB, Wirströms Järn & Färg AB