The show has brought together a group of ephemeral works, by Tim Etchells, Paul Hage Boutros, Sophie Jung, Clare Kenny, Hannah Lees, Wil Murray, and Rafal Zajko, and examines them through the lens of performance.
The works utilise a broad range of materials and processes – from ice, water, and wax to light, words, and heat - and have been evolving over the course of the exhibition. Each evolves, decays, or develops over time. As such, each could be considered a performance: a transient experience designed to exist in a particular moment.
This exhibition contemplates each of these works in this light and explores how plans for their legacy (or potential acquisition) tap into the current conversation around collecting live art.
Due to the changing nature of the exhibition, revisiting this exhibition will give a very different experience to the opening.
In a recent interview, exhibition curator Alys Williams states “Each artwork in this exhibition exists as an individual piece while concurrently becoming an element in an installation. ‘If it’s not meant to last, then it’s Performance’ could be considered a three-dimensional Vanitas: its slow alterations reminding the viewer of the shortness and fragility of life.”
Tim Etchells, Paul Hage Boutros, Sophie Jung, Clare Kenny, Hannah Lees, Wil Murray and Rafal Zajko