Khipu de paz

This mixed medium piece draws on the tradition of the khipu along with the weaving traditions of countless generations of Andean women to create a piece in iron and yarn that creates a dynamic, interactive work that plays with the questions of mystery, inclusion and exclusion.
The khipu were the record keeping method of the Incans codified in knots in a series of strings or yarn. The Europeans presumed the “savages” had no writing form since the Incan’s was unlike their own, and by the time they realized what they were, they had already killed those that could have explained the meaning of these records. The circular form of this modern khipu creates a continuous record, but the meaning of the message remains obscure. The circular shape also creates an interior space that can be entered or exited, whose barrier is permeable to light, air, or even people.
The piece has previously been used in performance art, as a personal meditation chamber, and combined with lighting effects to create a complex and dynamic game of shadows and color.
Cavassa envisioned the work as being intensely interactive, changing meaning and function depending on each person with whom it comes in contact.