DURATION: 5MIN 50 SEC
MUSIC: WILD FLOWER II
OSAKA CLEAR YOUTH ORCHESTRA
navia
NAVIA is a video installation built around a performance carried out in Asturias, Spain, in front of a refinery releasing thick white smoke into the air. In the film, the artist appears dressed in flowing white garments, holding a white cloth
that dances with the wind. As she moves, the fabric merges visually with the refinery’s plume, blurring the boundary between the human body and the industrial landscape. Her gestures — loose, expansive, at times reminiscent of Tai Chi — evoke an invocation of ancient forces, as if calling upon forgotten gods to intervene and protect the planet.
The white clothing, echoing the drapery of Greek deities, transforms the performer into a mythological figure navigating a contemporary ecological crisis. Her dance becomes both a ritual and a plea, a fragile attempt to counter the overwhelming presence of industry with the softness of movement and breath.
The installation extends beyond the video. Visitors are invited to sit on brightly coloured trash bags — pink, orange, neon green, blue — each tied with pink ribbons.
These playful, almost celebratory colours contrast sharply with the environmental themes of the work, creating a tension between beauty and waste, comfort and pollution. Surrounding the projection are photographs capturing moments from the performance: the artist’s bare feet in torn nylon socks, covered in mud; the landscape around the refinery; the wind pulling at the cloth. These images are accompanied by a panel recounting the behind‑the‑scenes story of the project — running out of fuel, receiving an electric shock in both legs, and the unsettling presence of bulls watching from a distance, a reminder that it was fortunate the cloth she danced with was white, not red.One of the installation’s components displays the actual garments worn during the performance: the stained dress, the braided hair extensions, the mask, and the white cloth itself. These objects, marked by dirt, weather and effort, become relics of the action — physical evidence of a body confronting an industrial landscape.
NAVIA is a meditation on vulnerability, resilience and the fragile dialogue between humanity and the environment. It transforms a single performance into a multi‑layered experience where myth, pollution, ritual and reality collide, inviting viewers to reflect on the forces that shape — and endanger — the world we inhabit.
