Creating video and performance works has been an ongoing part of my practice. Since I first made them in my Uni days I have continued on to the present and have created works for my recent exhibition Art and Artefact.
Process
Much of my process takes on an ad lib approach. Starting with a vague idea, I set up the surroundings with objects and clothing and perform in response to it.
I take a lot of footage, and build on what I see I then try to make sense of all of it in the editing process, re shooting if need be.
When Art and Artefact was cancelled in 2020 I decided to make some modelling videos of the hats I made.
Art and Artefact video’s
The Hoarder
Contains some disturbing elements not recommended for children
A humorous serial murder mystery that reveals much about the victims through the objects they keep.
There are multiple deaths. the ageing beauty, the ageing mother, the obsessive cleaner, the purist food provider, the uninspired creative, and one last victim?
My family lived the experience of a hoarder for many months as I worked on the project. The experience of claustrophobia and the anxieties it produces were very much part of the film.
Video and Performance Works while at Uni
Getting the Most Out of Your Wedding Dress
Art video and Performance taken at Lota. in response to being a housewife and the obsession with cleanliness
Ewe
In collaboration with Germaine Woodward
Two Ewes contemplate about becoming a Ewe/You society and the language of you.
The video was a response to a particularly “I-centric” performance video by Vito Acconci (Video and Performance Artist.)
Bridesmaids Fight Club Live
In collaboration with Germaine Woodward
Our intention was unashamedly subversive.To bring a fight into the gallery and call it culture contextualizes it as a parody of aggression, a choreographical spectacle aligned to the pomp and ceremony of a battle.
The original live performance took place at Metro Arts in Brisbane in 2004. My husband Shaun Murray took the footage and Germaine and I edited it later slowing down the action to resemble something like the fight scene in ‘Raging Bull’.
Prior to the performance we went through a process of getting ready for the fight. We pushed ourselves further each time, learning how to scream late at night at uni, creating different moves, trying to make it look shocking and beautiful. We didn’t want it to look like a cat fight. The process was surprisingly empowering.
But it was also a live performance and open to the unexpected. Germaine had had reservations about the performance and had wanted to pull out. I encouraged her to do it but after the hair pulling incident my confidence was severely undermined and it took me a while to get over it. The end result echoed the whole struggle with the collaborative process each of us trying to pull the work in our own preferred direction until one would give in.
Space Dog Guilt and Anxiety
In collaboration with Germaine Woodward
A movie made after the performance of Space dog at the Sound Show Qut. Germaine as Dog owner makes dog music while Linda as sausage dog dances in response.
The video is a mocumentary on our collaborative process and highlights some of the difficulties we faced working together.