Water Table Performance: Artists Performance as part of Residency at the Leitrim Sculpture Centre, Manorhamilton, Ireland

This performance work entitled 'Water Table' took place in theLeitrim Sculpture Centre Gallery. The performance work was part of an Artist residency opportunity awarded to me based on my proposal for an open application process. The research component within the artist residency linked to the 'Fractured Thinking' output elsewhere on this site. The focus of the research and the subsequent performance was on the environmental issues surrounding Hydraulic Fracturing in relation to the Irish/Northern Irish context. As part of the research process I had to identify key Oil & Gas Exploration Companies currently operating in Ireland (north & south). These companies' logos were reworked and combined with, and overlaid on, images of Irish Rivers. These images formed part of the performance process. The performance saw the slow raising of a table using G-Clamps and lengths of wooden baton which became leg extensions. The worked images were attached to each leg extension. As the table grew taller new longer wooden batons were added and the table became more and more unstable over time. The work refers to natural balance and the dangers of forgetting how much we rely on the natural environment, particularly water, the base of all life on the planet.