Michal_samama_-_background_materials (original)... May 2026

Samama often morphs into the materials she uses. For example, she may use her fingers like "fishhooks" to distort her face into a snout, blurring the line between human and animal/object.

The work was notably performed at The Chocolate Factory Theater in Long Island City in 2014. michal_samama_-_background_materials (Original)...

The piece highlights sensory data that usually goes unnoticed—what Samama calls "background noise"—precisely because these elements are what anchor us to reality. Samama often morphs into the materials she uses

Reviewers from the New York Times and footage from Vimeo describe several defining features of the work: The piece highlights sensory data that usually goes

The work is rooted in the philosophy of , specifically the idea that "to be a body is to be tied to a world".

Samama uses a whistle to make her labored breathing audible, emphasizing the physical exertion required to "be a body".

Background Materials is a hybrid event that combines two of Samama’s previous performance pieces into a single narrative arc: Core Material Action & Meaning The concrete wall