LONGING FOR THE OCEAN

 

Performance / mixed media installation: main foyer of University College London; 3 days duration. 2011, London, UK

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The three-day performance and installation took place in the formal foyer of University College London, outside the provost’s office, opposite the mummy of the philosopher Jeremy Bentham, next to two 5000 year old culpted lions from ancient Egypt. The foyer talks of power and permanence. The cubicle reeked of indeterminacy. 

 

In a place of power and learning, this performance explored the fantastic notion of crushing glass to make an ocean. Glass is scientifically a liquid, always moving and floating even if it can’t be seen by our eyes.

 

The performer meticulously broke old window glass until it became a sea (recalling that, scientifically, glass is liquid). Longing for the ocean played with paradox – longing for the ocean while trapped in a box. The fragments reflected the over-bright light, creating a staged, hyper-real feel. The sound of the hammer on glass was imposing and was the first point of entry for viewers The glass fragments were later made into a rocket.

 

My own absurd action framed by its own architectural mini-space collided with this powerful environment to suggest a different reality where oceans can flow from glass, where imagination can be let loose and the permanence of the structure of the space might be reconsidered.

 

Performance, old window glass collected in Hackney London, hammer, stool, lamp & performer.