Related reading —
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" He, in his turn, gazes at the couple, at these stand-ins called upon to underwrite a thousand marriages, a thousand renewed couplings. Diamond’s had the same idea as him: the woman’s forehead has a bindi-nipple on it too. For a fraction of a second, Phocan senses one more act of standing-in or substitution at work here; the presence, veiled, redacted, of a coupling unconsummated, of a bride uncaptured—too young, a child almost—exiting the frame. Sennet’s briefing the students further: 'Once you take your bathrobes off,' he says, 'the cameras will detect the markers, and, through these, your exact positions. As long,' he adds, pointing at the floor’s tape-demarcated central area, 'as you stay within the borders of this square—that is, inside the white lines. Of course, you’ve got the bed, but…' Perera picks the thread up: 'As discussed,' she tells them, 'we want to ascertain the stress occasioned by a wide range of positions.' Her diction, coupled with the Sri Lankan accent in which they’re delivered, makes Phocan wonder whether these words are reproduced verbatim from her research brief or whether she always speaks with such lilting formality. 'To that end,' she carries on, 'we ask you to engage with one another in as many variable configurations as you are able. You can move about the bed, the bed’s edge, floor or table…' "
— McCarthy, Tom. The Making of Incarnation: A Novel |