Earlier this year, Cora Rafe walked the entire length of Manhattan barefoot. She began her walk at the Henry Hudson Bridge, pausing after 15.6 miles at Battery Park.
With each step Rafe connected with the urban terrain, ritualistically performing the temporal nature of bodies in movement - in contrast to those bustling around in a fast-paced city.
Sensorial observations create new textural environments in which to navigate; crossing over concrete slabs, asphalt, and subway grates forced a greater awareness of the materials used to construct the world around. The accompanying sculptures, cast in cement, were made as an extension of the desire to unionize with her surroundings. The pair of severed feet represent this connection between a body and a place.
Can reconstructing our bodies out of elements in our environment push us to a point of understanding about the two? Mindfully walking without the barriers of shoes upon gravel, cobblestones, and over manhole covers beckoned, if only briefly, a merger between the body and the cityscape.
