Between (2013)

Duration: 20 min.

In “Between”, a man spits into a woman’s face for 20 minutes. After each time, he wipes off his own face with his hand. The woman sits motionless and silent, obediently accepting his actions.

The man and the woman in this case become participants of the performance only for greater expressiveness as two energetically opposed figures. There easily be people of the same sex or age; people that know each other or are meeting for the first time because the performance is a reflection on the nature of human relationships, which often involve grievances. Offending others, we usually experience ambiguous and painful feelings, which is clearly reflected in the example of the man in “Between” — with each passing minute it becomes increasingly difficult for him to continue to keep going. The performance evokes a certain mirror effect and a displacement of roles. Often, when becoming the abuser, we feel that we are the ones that are offended. In this way, in her performance, “Between”, Olya Kroytor highlights the difficulties of communication people experience with others and analyzes the nature of the connection between people.