Brahmand is an 8-hour durational performance by Maithili Rajput.
breathe tighten choke inhale exhale sweat blur freeze rush stop dizzy fall pull collapse hold pulse panic pressure cold heat noise silence crowd alone stuck trapped compress sleep break continue wait sit fight stand walk lie blink look listen shake touch hold shift turn move pause resume panic drift forget remember delay shrug sigh yawn stare smile repeat continue
For eight hours, a body remains within a sealed fragile structure that shifts and degrades over time. Actions within the interior do not produce stable or immediately legible outcomes; the effort toward emergence is delayed, partial, or met with resistance. The work inhabits a condition in which causality is obscured and the boundary between protection and confinement is indistinguishable.
Audience members are invited to engage with and gradually alter the structure throughout the performance using provided tools. While visitors may enter at any time, they are encouraged to witness the final stages of the work as the structure slowly breaks apart and the body emerges from within.
Maithili Rajput (b. India) is a Boston-based interdisciplinary artist working across sculpture, performance, video, and installation. Her practice functions through the construction of controlled environments that subject the body to rigorous repetition, duration, and physical constraint. Through these labor-intensive systems, Rajput regulates movement and exposure to investigate the psychological architecture of endurance.