One of the highlights of this year’s L.E.V. Matadero will be the performance installation Shrink 01995 by the Belgian artist Lawrence Malstaf, whose work is situated on the borderline between the visual and the theatrical, representing the strange nature of the world we inhabit today. The installation is part of a series of works that require the visitor to adapt to a new and unknown situation.

Adaptation is a quality that has been fundamental to our evolution as a species. However, in recent times, we have begun to change our environment according to our needs and desires, rather than the other way around.

Shrink 01995 is carried out by different performers who are suspended vertically in the air inside two large transparent plastic sheets. A device suctions the air between them, while their bodies move slowly from an almost embryonic position to one that resembles a crucifixion, to end up gradually freezing between micro-folds.

Inside the vacuum installation it is key to let go and adapt to the folds and pressure inside the plastic. Only then, it can become a comforting and peaceful experience where one loses the sense of time.

An allusion to real life where, in some situations, if one resists and tries to use force and control, things get sticky and difficult.