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Untold Torments Without Reason (2013)
23 postcards documenting a performance in La Mancha, Spain

In January 2013, I spent three weeks criss-crossing the Manchegan Plains in Southern Spain; the country made famous by Miguel de Cervantes’ novel, “Don Quixote” (1605, 1611). I was interested in considering the idea that “Quixote” expresses a culture in crisis, reflecting a Europe in transition between its medieval past and its enlightened future. In “Untold Torments” I wanted to return to this ambivalent space. I wanted to document it, perform in it and ultimately consider the idea that La Mancha will forever be a place of transition, emptiness and madness.

.................................................................................

  • To Serenade a Mountain
  • To Train a Fart in the Desert
  • Una Mano
  • 100 Drill
  • The Double-backed Beast
  • Song for von Guérard
  • Waterwalker
  • Hello Stranger
  • Test Excavation
  • Dry Gulch
  • 6m of Plinth
  • Big Pinky
  • Untold Torments Without Reason
  • Mapping La Mancha
  • Acts of Exposure
  • Two Sketches for Antipodysseus
  • Terra Australis 750 BC to 2012 AD
  • The Model
  • The Heat is. . .On!
  • Renny Kodgers Quiz Hour
  • Schleimgurgeln: Arrival

Untold Torments Without Reason

Untold Torments Without Reason (2013)
23 postcards documenting a performance in La Mancha, Spain

In January 2013, I spent three weeks criss-crossing the Manchegan Plains in Southern Spain; the country made famous by Miguel de Cervantes’ novel, “Don Quixote” (1605, 1611). I was interested in considering the idea that “Quixote” expresses a culture in crisis, reflecting a Europe in transition between its medieval past and its enlightened future. In “Untold Torments” I wanted to return to this ambivalent space. I wanted to document it, perform in it and ultimately consider the idea that La Mancha will forever be a place of transition, emptiness and madness.

.................................................................................

  • To Serenade a Mountain
  • To Train a Fart in the Desert
  • Una Mano
  • 100 Drill
  • The Double-backed Beast
  • Song for von Guérard
  • Waterwalker
  • Hello Stranger
  • Test Excavation
  • Dry Gulch
  • 6m of Plinth
  • Big Pinky
  • Untold Torments Without Reason
  • Mapping La Mancha
  • Acts of Exposure
  • Two Sketches for Antipodysseus
  • Terra Australis 750 BC to 2012 AD
  • The Model
  • The Heat is. . .On!
  • Renny Kodgers Quiz Hour
  • Schleimgurgeln: Arrival

All content © Mark Shorter 2025

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