99 Falls for 99 Balls 1992

11 Nov 1992 : The Studio Theatre, Newtown, Sydney, Australia

99F/99B : Ninety Nine Falls for Ninety Nine Balls

In this performance I fell down repetitively 99 times in synchronisation with 99 balls falling from a tennis ball machine that I had installed overhead. I fell and stood up basically on the spot. There was a video camera mounted overhead and the overhead view was project onto the wall behind me. There was also a battery powered flashlight on the floor lighting the spot where each tennis ball landed. The tennis balls bounced away in any direction littering the stage. The only sounds were the sounds of the tennis ball machine, the bouncing balls and my body hitting the floor. This work was intended as an “anti-dance” performance and statement in the spirit of butoh. It did shock some of the mainly dance audience in the terms of an apparent brutality to the body, the repetition, and the lack of any softening aesthetic.

I made the poster image in a coin operated photo booth, sinking down further from the seat for each successive image.