Behemoth 2015

09 Apr 2015 : Manager’s Tennis Court, Cementa 15 Festival of Arts, Kandos, NSW, Australia

Working with newspapers I created a long cape to be worn by this character, an Eliotesque figure wandering Kandos. Chip-wrapped, coat-stuffed, shredded, balled and plastered. Newsprint in objects, clothing, walls and floors. A relic itinerant inhabitant with many hiding places in the fabric of this town. An Emperor of reveries, a forgotten archive, trailing an elegant debris of irrelevant articles. This work was created during a residency at Kandos. As part of the process I collected unsold newspapers from Newsagents in Kandos and Rylstone as well as used papers from the local waste depot. The costume was purpose selected from charity shops and the vintage wheelbarrow was borrowed from the local garden centre. The installation and performance occupied a disused tennis court at the former Manager’s Residence (this was the manager of the now closed cement works), and the site was shared with a sand installation (with which I interacted) by Indigenous artist Aleshia Lonsdale. The performance comprised readings from various found books including a bible, an installation of newspaper balls on a found timber pallet, and a procession through the streets with the barrow full of newspapers.

“Alan Schacher performed throughout “Cementa15”seen wandering the streets with his wheelbarrow and cape of newspapers, or at the Manager’s tennis court reciting poetry and finding uncanny ways to entertain himself and others with that newspaper.” - Gina Fairley

Sydney Morning Herald Review, 23 March 2017



Project Details
Dates 09 Apr 2015 to 12 Apr 2015
Duration 1 hour x twice daily and roving
Producer Cementa Festival of Arts
Category solo
Credits Photos: Alex Wisser, Ian Hobbs, WeiZen Ho, Gary Warner, George Shaw Video: Cementa