Penelope red carpet loom by Tatiana Blass
PENELOPE: THE WORK CONSISTS OF A RED CARPET OF 14 METERS THAT GOES FROM THE CHAPEL
of the entrance door to the altar, which is a pedal hand loom in which the warp of the carpet is stuck. The wires come out tangles across the loom and pass through the existing holes in the mud walls, reaching the outside. The red wires invade the green garden, lining all grass, shrubs and trees, creating a dubious movement of construction and deconstruction, to quote Penelope myth.
Penelope is a recent installation from Tatiana Blass – the name for the exhibit is taken from Homer’s Odyssey. Penelope was Odysseus’ wife and she remained faithful for twenty years while he was away at war.
To keep her suitors at bay, she kept herself busy for three years weaving a burial shroud for her father-in-law while secretly unweaving parts of it at night. She promised she would choose one when she was done but delayed it to remain faithful. The exhibit was designed to fill the Chapel of Morumbi in São Paulo, Brazil, where Blass lives and works.
