Performance Experiments 1977 – 1979

Performance Experiments 1977 – 1979

These two works represent early experiments into different forms of performance. I was interested in the form of performance: what types of structure could be imagined. I sought to understand how time, action and concept might work together. Both comprised small groups of performers; in the first Grid, I asked the performers to respond, and the 12 performers created their own work. I had no idea what each intended; I merely provided the gridded area and asked them to ‘present something ‘. The second, “drab bard,” is a play on meaning of this palindrome given the counterpoint between the two words. Unilike Grid, I directed the action. The action was based on the performers’ observed idiosyncrasies.

Grid 1977, a performance work involving a variety of actions in contained spaces. Each action was performed within the performer’s designated cell of a grid. The grid was delineated by rope tied between trees within an olive grove. Participants were asked not to reveal their intended action to the other participants or me before the performance.

Drab Bard 1979 (Welcome to Australia) was a performance collage of different actions that slowly rose over 20 minutes. Six performers entered the gallery one at a time and repeated an action for the duration of the performance. I asked them to repeat one action for the duration of the performance (their choice). Beginning slowly, the work felt austere and dark. As the performance progressed, it became absurd and humorous. I thought of it as a strange cabaret.

One character, an ex-military officer in uniform, slowly walked back and forth across the gallery, increasing speed until he marched quickly. Another carried out strange and smelly experiments using uncertain chemistry. Another lit and smoked twenty cigarettes at once. These and other actions gained a chaotic intensity until the participants left the space according to prearranged cues. Throughout the developing mayhem and until the end, two figures (myself and a friend dressed in identical clothing, with identical haircuts) remained seated, silent and still. The wall behind was decorated with hand-painted signage, typical of the time, that advertised unidentified sales, unidentified consumer opportunities, and cheaper products. This was an expressionistic performance of place, relying entirely on a slowly developed repetition. crescendo of action. While very different in content and look, the work relates structurally to later works such as Bicycle Race 1978 and Fill 1990.