Artwork

A Dream of Ash Teeth

Artspace, Peterborough, Ontario
January 15 - February 7, 2010

This performance-installation continued from Acts of Carbon (2009), exploring the movement between different “stations” in the gallery. This time I drew on a long scroll of paper, and also marked the walls and floor with chalk as a way of measuring or tracing my trajectory. Additional actions included sculpting figures out of gum erasers, repetitively climbing/descending a stepladder, and moving across the space with wet hands, only taking a step when water dripped. There was a sense of ritual, in that the piece was ongoing and actions were repeated. I came to this work with the question of whether it is possible to create a space that is simultaneously intimate and theatrical, to compose a slow space in which the viewer may empathize, or even become part of the tableau. Part of the installation included old theatre chairs, where spectators could sit and watch up close. The performances were for two days (4 hours each), and then the installation remained as an exhibition.

Materials: grey paper (covering walls and ceiling), charcoal on paper, gum erasers, soaps, water, bucket,

found objects and furniture, sweet potatoes, apples, tiny sewn pyjamas

Photographs: Iga Janik, Vida Simon