TRACAPELLO
Tracapelló an unusual parade consisting of one hundred volunteers dressed up as worms, a variety of carriages, an orchestra and any member of the public who wishes to join it. The parade stops at different stages where the mobile fly system, named tracapelló, is operated, and concludes with the construction of a falla which is subsequently burned. The falla is composed of the various representations of historical characters and festive imagery that accompany the parade. Tracapelló was performed on the 28th of October 2017 in Valencia for the Intramurs Festival: #encru.
Tracapelló is a visual artefact created by Antúnez which, in turn, gives name to this action. The tracapellós are 6x4 metre (approx.) devices made of paper curtains and attached to wooden frames. A variety of sheets are attached to each of these devices and, when hoisted, they cover the original image and transform it into another one. This mechanism allows for a more dynamic means to articulate different tales. The costumes, mobile carriages and volumetric figures of historical characters as well as the orchestra, help complete the motile narrative. The story is articulated around a fable and is inspired by economic excesses. In an anachronistic manner which links past and future, Tracapelló engages with questions of inequality, injustice and the abuse of power. The action consists of the following phases: Cridà, aristocracy’s tracapelló, Revolution, universal Good and the final falla. The burning of the falla is followed by a festive action – a farinada – which involves covering up the participants with flour. Tracapelló is part of a series of site-specific projects, such as Alsaxy (Strasburgh 2015), developed by Antúnez in the last few years and produced in collaboration with other groups and collectives. These projects aim to transcend the interactive limits as defined in his Sytematurgy model, and invite the public to intervene and collaborate in the creation of the work. In this way, Antúnez attempts to establish a dialogue with the audience that enables the exchange and transmission of knowledge as well as the public’s identification with the work of art. It also enables the artist to produce large-scale installations and actions.
All the components of Tracapelló, organised and produced by the Intramurs Festival of 2017: #encru, and performed in Valencia, have been built from scratch by fifty students of the IES Benicalap (Benicalap College) enrolled on the formative programme ‘Artista Faller and construcció de’escenografies’ [Falla artist and scenographic construction]. The nearly one hundred volunteers that participated in the parade were chosen by means of an open call selection process, briefed for the action and allowed to choose and adapt their cardboard costumes.