Vegetating Alter/Native Histories

As the third iteration of Tekla Tamoria’s Alterbibo performance-video project (‘alter’ is a Latin prefix that means another, and for the artist, ‘bibo’ means ‘energy’), Alterbibo: Vegetating Alter/natives Histories shows the artist clad in colourful strands of fabric as she meanders through a forest. Like a free spirit or enchantress, the artist’s avatar embarks on a surreal journey into secret, uninhabited spaces and unknown territories in what is a broader exploration of myth, character, and identity.  

Alterbibo: Vegetating Alter/natives Histories foregrounds the artist’s practice of wearable art, which is often overlooked in favour of more dominant forms of textile art such as weaving and tapestries. While wearable art involves the same process of stitching cloth, it has a liberating dimension that allows the works to assume the shape of a body and move outside the confines of the gallery. Shot in a forest in Los Baños, Philippines, the video’s slow, drifting movements and hypnotic colours are simultaneously captivating and disturbing.