ARIADNE, 2025
Performed at the Darkness Visible II (
@darknessvisible_ ) showcase at PLEX (
@plex.athens ) in Athens, Greece, on October 16th, 2025.
Presented and co-facilitated by
@ronathey_4 ,
@highersensestudio ,
@federicadauri , and
@micheleoccelli . Event poster & documentation by
@jeremycarne . Production coordinator
@nikolaskasinos .
***
ARIADNE is a mediumship-based performance developed during Darkness Visible II. The work draws on trance, somatic ritual, and ecstatic states to open the body as a site for spirit possession.
In the piece, I built an altar to Ariadne by weaving a web — a live invocation of Ariadne’s thread — while dressed as a spider. The action was slow and repetitive, designed to open the body into a receptive state. Over time, I entered trance and was possessed by the spirit of Ariadne. She took the form of the spider and continued the weaving — until the web overtook her completely, entangling her in what she had created.
The performance was durational and unscripted. The focus was on allowing the conditions for possession to occur, and remaining in that state until it resolved. The performance ended when the altar candles were nearly burned out.
The performance took place in Athens — the city Ariadne saved. By offering her thread to Theseus as he entered Daedalus's Labyrinth to slay the Minotaur and end the ritual sacrifice of Athenian children to his maw, Ariadne ended the violence, and delivered the Athenians from a sentence of death. In return, she was forgotten. Staging this work in Athens returned Ariadne to the center of the story — not as a helper or an afterthought, but as the one who made survival possible.
Special thanks to
@longingforsong for helping me to develop this performance as a companion piece to their ritual tribute to Dionysus, who found Ariadne abandoned by Theseus on Naxos, and made her his immortal bride.
More info about this piece, and the myth of Ariadne, can be found on my site via link in bio. 🕷🕸💫
⭐🌛🌕🌜⭐
