Pollock (2007), object & performance, object: a hanks of red cotton thread, walking stick
For over a year I kept a roll of vivid red coloured thread on a shelf in my studio. I had bought it from a charity shop for 50p.
One morning, I started to unroll and cut the thread. I gradually built a structure using bits and pieces in my studio on which I was able to tie the cut thread in similar lengths. I had in mind that I wanted to make some sort of 17th -18th century Korean women’s wig. However, when I arranged the cut threads with the help of a walking stick on the wall I became excited about a slightly different direction.
This performance, carried out in an empty studio near to my own, emerged at this time. As I looked at the documentation I was intrigued by previously unnoticed references, the contrast with the colours of the floor, and my head movements all created an effect that invoked the american painter Jackson Pollock.
Pollock, live performance at no12 studio space, Brixton, London, 2007 (76 x 50 cm, c-type print (1/3)
Pollock, installation view, Body & Shelter, the Agency gallery, London, 2012 (digital print, 168 x 119 cm, (1/3)