SPIN detail and excerpt 1993

21 Oct 1993 : The Old Darlington School, University of Sydney

Performed for the Conference BLEEDLINES The Limits of Performance. My performance was based on the topic of colonisation and the Three White Poisons ( a term I coined) to describe white flour, white sugar and white salt, the refined basic foods that were introduced by the British colonisers and missionaries to Aboriginal Australia. Along with alcohol these “basic foods” contribute to ill health and diabetes in the indigenous polpulation. Using a cement-mixer I threw many ingredients into the mix, a video camera captured the swirling interior, projected onto a screen above. I threw the ingredients in from bowls on a long table. I then went outside and spun inder a tree with a video camera fixed overhead. My spinning image in overheead view was superimposed onto the spinning mix, as if I was one of the ingredients. WHITE POISON # 1 WHITE POISON # 2 WHITE POISON # 3 BLOOD BILE & VOMIT SWEAT & TEARS BROKEN DREAMS FERTILITY DESIRE / HOPE REMEMBRANCE EVIDENCE DOCUMENTATION ARTIST / AVARICE VESSEL / ANGST FEAR / HOPE LOVE / DESIRE LUST / DESPAIR TEMPTATION FAITH / MEMORY