Untitled (Portraits): Version 2

Between 18.00 and 20.00 hrs on 14th September 2011, and between 13.30 and 16.00 on 15th October 2011, a live 12 ft Burmese python was present in the gallery space at Exeter Phoenix.

Visitors were permitted to hold or interact with the animal and have their photograph taken (if they provide a camera/camera phone)*

Semi- autobiographical, Untitled (Portrait) investigates the artist’s relationships with her family and emotions evoked when our loved ones may be in a dangerous situation.Alongside the performance outlined above, two small, loaned, photographs depict relatives of the artist posing on separate occasions with dangerous animals on ‘family outings’. 

                 

The artist's brother is pictured in 2001 on holiday adorned with two large snakes, and the artist’s grandmother and cousin are shown 'petting' an adult tiger at an animal sanctuary in Thailand in 2008.

This photograph is kept in her grandmother's handbag as a proud trophy of her achievement and bravery. A risk assessment for the performance written by the Curator, is presented next to the photographs. (see blog post - Untitled (Portraits) for images of this ephemera).

Influenced by works such as Huang Yong Ping’s Theater of the World (1993), and Beuys’ I like America and America Likes me, Untitled (Portraits) explores the potential neutralization of danger of a wild animal in an artificial or staged environment. 

By placing a live python in the galley space, the work questions both the union between the natural kingdom and the realm of artificiality, and our human desire to portray ourselves in control of situations with dangerous or exotic animals.

With thanks to Hana Evans and Quang Li.

Welcome Drinks (For Nowhereisland)

Welcome Drinks (For Nowhereisland)

April 2011

Plymouth Arts Centre commissioned me to create a performance for the Nowhereisland Open Meeting event, on 7 April 2011. Nowhereisland is a large scale contemporary art commission and the winning project of Artists Taking the Lead for the South West England, part of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad. It is led by artist Alex Hartley and produced with Situations, at the University of the West of England, Bristol.

To welcome Nowhereisland, I collaborated with a team of mixologists from Avenue Bars to create bespoke, island themed cocktails for the Open Meeting event.
The Batter Street studio at Plymouth Arts Centre was transformed into an intimate cocktail bar with a smartly dressed cocktail waiters and trained mixologists. By drinking the specially created cocktails guests were unwittingly participating in the work. A text piece accompanying the performance will be printed on coasters in the space, and as the evening progressed rings from glasses left a physical trace of the event on the coasters.

Each cocktail, or artwork, was titled after an event or notion that related to Nowhereisland in some way:

1. Ny Oppdagelsen (4 lemon juice, 5 gin, 2 gomme, 2 blue curacao)   

 Translates as 'New Discovery' in norwegian.

 2.  Project Habbakuk (3 pineapple, 3 lime, 6 rum, 1 gomme, 1 orgeat)

A failed plan by the British in WW2 to construct an aircraft carrier out of pykrete 

(a mixture of wood pulp and ice), thus creating artificial ice-islands.

3. Islomania (12 Apple juice, 2 Vanilla gomme, 2 Lemon juice) 

A craze for or a strong attraction to islands. 

The condition was first identified by Lawrence Durrell in his book Reflections on a Marine Venus (1953). 

Welcome Drinks also explores what it means for an artist to finance a decadent or frivolous gesture, particularly at this point in time, and the idea of creating a pleasant or even luxurious experience for a ‘durational’ performance audience, referencing works such as Klein’s La Vide; and the craftsmanship, aesthetic frivolity, nostalgia and celebratory atmosphere serving cocktails create.

 

Untitled (Portraits)

Untitled (Portraits)

March 2011, diptych and performance

Commissioned for the exhibition, Risk Assessment, at The Viewtube, East London.

Between 18.00 and 20.00 hrs on Thursday 3^rd March 2011, a live 9 ft albino python was present in the gallery. Visitors were permitted to hold or interact with the animal and have their photograph taken (if they provide a camera/camera phone)*

Semi- autobiographical, Untitled (Portrait) investigates the artist’s relationships with her family and emotions evoked when our loved ones may be in a dangerous situation.Two small, loaned, photographs depict relatives of the artist posing on separate occasions with dangerous animals on ‘family outings’.                  

The artist's brother is pictured in 2001 on holiday adorned with two large snakes, and the artist’s grandmother and cousin are shown 'petting' an adult tiger at an animal sanctuary in Thailand in 2008.

This photograph is kept in her grandmother's handbag as a proud trophy of her achievement and bravery. 

Alongside these two images is presented a risk assessment for the performance described in italics above.

Influenced by works such as Huang Yong Ping’s Theater of the World (1993), and Beuys’ I like America and America Likes me, Untitled (Portraits) explores the potential neutralization of danger of a wild animal in an artificial or staged environment. 

By placing a live python in the galley space, it questions both the union between the natural kingdom and the realm of artificiality, and our human desire to portray ourselves in control of situations with dangerous or exotic animals.

*the above performance did not take place as the python attacked the handler before arriving at the gallery and through risk assessment, the situation was deemed unsafe. This work is an ongoing series.