ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE

The Loom of Athena is an installation and durational performance lecture, created by Kiran Tanna – that’s me. Welcome!

This work is concerned with representations of conspiracy theory culture. It is especially interested in portrayals of that culture in a) academic research, and b) theatre and performance. You are free to come and go as you please, and I invite you to stay for as little or as long as you like.

There are nine plinths in the performance space. On each you will find a garment. Each garment relates to a distinct narrative, event or perspective. Three explore alleged conspiracies, three seek to explain conspiracy theory culture as a phenomenon, and three examine works of theatre, concerned with that culture themselves.

In this performance, I set out to expose, explore and reflect on the relationships between those narratives, events and perspectives. Doing so, I hope to discover and demonstrate some particular advantages of theatre as a medium in which to engage with concepts, stories, and people presently associated with conspiracy theories.

I will work in the space for six hours, delivering micro-lectures on various topics as I add information to The Loom – except during rest periods, which occur once every hour, on the hour-fifty mark. During these breaks, I encourage you to leave your seats and explore the installation. You are welcome to do this at any time, but these periods may be the most convenient.

While I am in the space, I will draw reference cards from a filing cabinet and will commit them to The Loom, establishing visual relationships between the nine plinths. Each card refers to a different fact file, hosted on this website. Cards will be selected at random, according to dice rolls.

As I produce those cards, I will discuss the material referenced and explain its placement in the emerging network of information referred to throughout the performance. When no audience are present, I will proceed as described, but my presentation will be delivered to a camera instead. Please note: the entire performance is being recorded for subsequent development and distribution.

This website hosts one hundred and thirty two of the fact files described above. I encourage you to explore the space and engage with these: you can scan the code on each card with your phone’s scanning application, or you can look them up on the reference machine, located in the space. If you don’t have a way to scan the codes, you can always click on the fact files tab in the menu above, and this will let you search for the reference manually. If you would like help with this, please ask me and I will assist.

Thank you for visiting The Loom of Athena.