An opera by composer Sokio that explores the life and work of Chilean-American artist Gordon Matta-Clark, fusing electronic and classical elements for an immersive experience. Based on texts from Roberto Matta's own son and poems by Natasha Tiniacos, this GAM production intertwines art, architecture and contemporary memory.
Conceived as a long-term project, Splitting/Absence proposes a stage experience located in a territory that intertwines opera, installation and performance, deliberately distancing itself from the traditional forms of the genre. The work establishes a less “sacred” relationship with opera, privileging experimentation, the physicality of the voice and an open dramaturgy, in tune with the radical and processual nature of Matta-Clark's work.
Inspired by his interventions – who used cutting, fragmentation and fissure as strategies to reveal social tensions inscribed in the city – the opera transfers these gestures to the scenic and sound sphere.
"This approach allows the work to adapt to different spaces, such as those offered by museum contexts, approaching a performance experience closer to the way in which many of these practices were originally conceived and activated in the 1970s," points out its composer, Sokio.
Thirteen people appear on stage, including singers, musicians and performers. The opera proposes a hybrid stage experience that combines voice, body, sound, electroacoustics and projections. These projections are made up of fragments of films made by Gordon Matta-Clark himself, while his texts constitute the script that the singers perform.
Although it is made up of four sections (Santiago, New York, Paris and Chicago), only two will be presented at GAM: Santiago and New York. The Santiago Section addresses Matta-Clark's trip to Chile in 1971, his Claraboya intervention and his attempt to meet his father, Roberto Matta, reflecting on origin, absence and memory. The New York Section is set in SoHo and the Lower East Side of the 1970s, exploring art as action, collaboration and shared experience.
Almost fifty years after Matta-Clark's death, the project is part of the reactivation of his legacy from a Latin American perspective. "In a context marked by profound social and cultural transformations, the work and thought of Gordon Matta-Clark acquire renewed validity on absence, memory, inheritance and the role of art as a social practice, understood as situated action and shared experience," concludes Sokio.
27 Mar | Post-function conversation
Participate in a conversation with the cast and director, where you can ask questions and learn about the production.
Composer / Staging On Stage Sokio | Texts Gordon Matta-Clark | Poems Natasha Tiniacos | Costume Design Lucía Cuba | Choreography Alexandra Mabes | Lighting Design Andrés Poirot | Set Design Camila Mancilla | Scenographic Development Sebastián Rojas | Costume Assistant Claudia Del Fierro | Audio Recording Francisca Bascuñán | Live Audio Víctor Sáez | Mapping Guillermo Montecinos | Videographer Rodrigo Avilés | Social Media Felipe Arriagada | Producer Amanda Riesman | Tenor Gabriel Hernández | Soprano Doris Silva | Soprano Camila García | Mezzo-soprano Victoria Guastavino | Baritone Diego Álvarez | Recorded Voice Francisca Benítez | Dancer Alexandra Mabes | Viola Daluz Sepúlveda | Cello Marcelo Mella | Percussion Natalia Vega Matus | Synthesizers Nicole Díaz | Development of Percussion Machines Matías Serrano and Aarón Montoya | Manufacturing assistants Bernadita Lobo and Francisco Stephens
Associated institutions New Latin Wave, Estate of Matta-Clark, Ford Foundation, The Clemente Center, Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage, Visual Arts Area, Teenage Engineering, Playtronica. GAM Production.
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American artist of Chilean descent who explored different modes of architectural intervention. Key and disruptive figure of conceptual and contemporary art of the 70s, recognized for his radical architectural interventions known as building cuts. His approach, which he called “anarchitecture,” challenged the boundaries between art, urban space and social criticism. Son of the painter Anne Clark and the Chilean artist Roberto Matta, he studied Literature for two years at the Sorbonne University in Paris and graduated in Architecture from Cornell University.
Sokio is the stage name of Mauricio Díaz Gallardo, a Chilean composer, producer and director recognized for his eclectic work in electronic music, rock, soundtracks and film music, who has developed his career between Chile and New York, standing out for works such as his opera "Paraíso". Manager of an independent cultural collective (New Latin Wave). Its themes are Latin culture and the difficulties of immigration, as demonstrated by its five premieres so far.
“While Matta revealed to us the microscopic and the elements of matter, Matta-Clark invited us to look at what exists beyond it, revealing the interstices of the particles. At this intersection a shared legacy is articulated, where father and son dialogue from different but deeply connected languages.”
— Sokio, composer.
Mar 27 to 29, 2026
Fri and Sat— 7:30 p.m.
Sun— 4 p.m.
Sala A2 (Edificio A, piso 1)
$20,000 General.
$14,000 Seniors, students, caregivers and people with disabilities.
$27,000 VIP (best locations)
$10,000 Partial view
-20% discount for Club La Tercera members.
-30% discount for members of the Theater Network Network.
-2x1 General. BiblioGAM Membership and GAM Teachers Membership only on Fridays.
-50% discount only on Fridays for students of performing and musical arts, schools artistic and partners of SIDARTE, SINATTAD, SCD, ADTRESS, CHILE ACTORS.
*Exclusive discounts for the general value. Not combinable with other promotions and VIP and partial values.
All discounts (except Club La Tercera and Red de Salas) are applied in person at the GAM Ticket Office by presenting credentials.
PRESENTED BY
Post-function discussion: Friday, March 27.
With your ticket you can live a photographic experience prior to the work, and get your Matta Clark style portrait.
14+ years | Duration: 70 min.
Accessibility
This work does not have subtitles. It presents smoke and/or dust in suspension, little verbal language and flashes of light.