Arca/2018

## May

Total Freedom performed on two of the last evenings of the event *A Prelude to the Shed* on May 11th (Friday) and May 12th (Saturday) in NYC. Arca performed only on May 11th. Total Freedom's piece, called Piety, incorporated dancer Josh Johnson and a quartet of Frank A. Haye and the Brooklyn Interdenominational Choir. Total Freedom stayed behind the decks for Arca's set, which began on the site of a wrecked car, flipped over in a pool of water, on the grounds. Surrounded by smoke and, eventually, a spray of rain from a faucet above the scene, Arca sang while climbing onto the car, splashing through the water, and walking through the crowd. A cello player elevated on a separate platform accompanied her, and Arca left the site of the car to sing by her (she stayed on the move for most of the show) before climbing into a sinister looking examination chair and smearing fake blood on himself from a hanging bag. Designer of the set Arthur de Borman.

In an interview for *Vogue*, published on November 1st, 2019, Arca revealed the meaning behind the usage of upturned car for her performance:

"*For the Prelude to The Shed, I was really actually working through a trauma—like very consciously, in therapy—and I wasn’t sure if I should try and pretend that I wasn’t going through something. The gesture of having an upturned car was in relation to a car accident that I was in when I was very young—it wasn’t my car that flipped upside down, but one that I was staring at, and it was a really powerful image that kind of never left me [Arca says, relating it to a recent experience near her house in Barcelona]. I was walking to the gym and I saw someone lying on the ground in a pool of blood. I walked into a crowd that was already standing still and silent, and everyone was in shock, standing still and silent. Everyone was reacting in totally different ways, myself included. I looked at someone in the eye and said something nice, like ‘How are you?’ I could feel myself disassociate. It’s beautiful that our minds do that to protect us from the ravaging, ripping, insane mystery of our own mortality. That’s one of the things I love about fashion is it’s in virtue of that, not because of it or avoiding it or pretending that it doesn’t exist.*"
Setlist
1. "Torero" (from Entrañas) + Violoncello solo
2. "Ashland" + "Tormenta" (used for Prada & SSENSE performance)
3. "Vacuum" (from *^^^^^* (from half till the end))
4. "Whip"
5. Beats [?] + "Tormenta" (used for Prada & SSENSE performance)
6. "Bussy" [last 20 seconds] [???]
7. "Madre Acapella" (with live violoncello instrumental)
8. "No Queda Nada"
9. "Held Apart"
10. "Tierno"
11. "Ripper" (from *±±±±±* which samples the first track of "Fetiche")
12. "Recursion" (which samples "Fetiche")
13. "In The Face"
14. "Piel"
15. "Anoche" (lyrics) & "Crown" (instrumental) mix
16. "Think Of" (from Entrañas)
17. "Wound" (slightly different version from the album)

Arca - A Prelude to The Shed in NYC (May 11, 2018)Arca & Total Freedom live @ A Prelude to The Shed, NYC, 2018
1. ↑ https://frameweb.com/project/arca-prelude-to-the-shed-new-york
2. ↑ https://www.vogue.com/vogueworld/article/arca-mutant-faith-shed-performance-style-natacha-voranger