A man and a woman who spent an entire year physically tethered have spoken about what they learned from the unusual project.
Painter and performance artist Tehching Hsieh teamed up with fellow performance artist Linda Montano for a work that saw them connected by an eight-foot rope fastened around their waists. Despite being tied together, they were not permitted to touch each other for the full 12 months.
The collaboration, known as Rope Piece, set out to examine themes including freedom, privacy, control and commitment, along with the realities of dependence and coexistence in everyday life.
For the duration, ordinary routines—cooking, showering and sleeping—continued as normal, except every moment had to be navigated while attached to another person. The year-long performance was captured in a sequence of photographs.
Hsieh, now 75, and Montano, now 84, carried out the piece between 1983 and 1984. They later described how frequently tensions flared, with both acknowledging that the unrelenting lack of privacy was one of the most punishing parts of the experience.
Even small, everyday interactions—like making a phone call to a friend—became awkward and complicated. But much of the strain came from the need to constantly negotiate in order to satisfy sudden urges and basic needs, since neither person could act independently.
If one of them needed the bathroom, wanted a glass of water, or simply felt like looking out a window, they both had to get up and move together.
Arguments sometimes escalated into physical confrontations, with each pulling at their end of the rope before retreating into silence.
“We were becoming more animal-like. Somewhat like monkeys,” said Montano.
“We began pointing with sounds and groans and moans. We stopped talking almost completely.”
Part of what intensified the pressure was a rule built into the piece: either artist could veto what the other proposed, and “no” automatically overruled “yes.” That structure meant stalemates were always possible, and frustration could quickly build.
Montano suggested that the prohibition on touching may have been the only thing that prevented the situation from becoming even more dangerous, admitting she would have killed Hsieh “a thousand times” without it.
There were also moments when anger spilled into the space around them. On two occasions, Hsieh reportedly threw furniture onto the floor near Montano—close enough to be alarming—though it did not hit her.
Rope Piece was one of six major performance works created by Hsieh. Produced between 1978 and 2000, his projects included five separate year-long pieces, followed by another that extended over 13 years.
Each performance was defined by strict conditions that he committed to follow for the specified duration.
In one work he confined himself inside a wooden cage, and in another he spent a full year living outdoors, refusing to enter any building or shelter of any kind.