Abstract

Performance art fetishizes the present and presence; the moment of viewing, hearing, and seeing, is consecrated as the ultimate encounter with the work. The ‘stripped down’ work, often devoid of the distancing mechanisms of visual representation, offers a corporeal experience, a raw energy that may only otherwise be available in the artist studio in the moment of execution of a work.

This work by BartramO’Neill explores the notion of presence through the performance of a work through the medium of ‘other bodies’. These bodies are not actors – they will not be given an opportunity to learn lines, read scripts, have prior knowledge of plot or denouement, but will follow instructions blindly in an act of trust.