Palpable sensations

Palpable sensations Michelle, are an apt description of something I try to perform in my work both in the doing and in the viewing. To begin with, I’ve always been a great believer in doing and experiencing things for myself – it is a great test of self-knowledge- about discovering one’s own capacities and limits and of knowledge about the work. That’s why I’ve always been more comfortable being the performer in my work because I know how far I can push myself and I am able to push myself further than I would be able to others. It’s also a great test of knowledge of the work through experience- how can I talk knowledgably about performing the work without performing (in) it myself? Yes, this is about sensitising the body to experience and to live it and feel it- that’s why your own engagement in Lygia Clark’s work through your own investment in the experience is so important.

In my running work I have had to train myself to run the distances that I run. I am not a natural runner and this was not an activity I was particularly engaged in to a great extent before I began to make this work. I was trying to think of a physical activity that was very straight-forward, that did not require any special or additional equipment in its activity (other than shoes and basic clothing) and that could take place in a number of different locations and environments.
I wanted to push myself and to find an activity that I would find difficult to do and to find that tension where there is always the potential of possible failure. In this work, the tension of possible failure comes not only in the activity of running itself, but in the production of the image (whether it is recorded or live). And sensation carried through the image through its movement as an image (or images) which is directed by my (head) movement as I run, with the sound of my breathing as a constant reminder of the experience and sensation of the activity.

When I was away I met for the first time someone who suffers violently from motion sickness and it occurred to me also for the first time what the effect could be on someone watching this work. This gave me some cause for concern as it was not something that I had considered or thought of before. I was quite shocked but at the same time horribly fascinated at how violently another's body could react to the palpable sensation of seeing an image.