Dora García
The Sinthome Score (Edition), 2015

Dora García’s conceptual piece The Sinthome Score (2013–2014), first presented at KUB Arena, Kunsthaus Bregenz in 2013, transforms the roles of speaker and listener into those of reader and dancer. Its score is based on an “unofficial” English translation of Jacques Lacan’s seminar 23, “Le Sinthome” (1975–1976), a series of ten lectures that drew from the writings of James Joyce to elaborate on language, the unconscious, and a reconsideration of the Borromean knot. Garcia’s work is accompanied by ten sets of movements, one drawn for each of the ten lectures. Two performers determine the rhythm, cadence, and speed of the performance. García’s score and choreographic notation welcome new participants, accidental stutters of the body, or slips of the tongue. It is left to the visitor to decide if, how, and when to enter the conversation.

Text, slightly edited, taken from the introduction to García’s The Sinthome Score, la Biennale di Venezia – Biennale Arte 2015.