History Lesson- "Raising the Table at Queens"

The table is often an overlooked piece of furniture both at home and in society. We eat, drink and often work at a table, we discuss unresolved issues at one. We can sit or stand behind one, hide under it, turn it, tip it and basically use it every day. The table is the basis for many activities; it is a level surface, which supports many of our accoutrements and activities. The table is a meeting place, a symbol of power, a base from which we each grow to meet the world. I worked with the allegorical table in the Black & White Hall, Layon Building at Queens University, raising it slowly using a series of G Clamps and wooden batons. The table was placed directly in front of a Statue of Galileo, my initial reason for choosing this location, and much of the imagery and performative actions within the work poetically, directly or indirectly referred to aspects of astronomy, scientific thought and methodologies and questions about how we choose to view our world and the universe around us.