“Water Table Performance Charciabałda",

Water Table Performance in Charciabałda, Poland, as part of the Nomadic Arts Festival 2014: ‘Between Wheat & Pine’ 30th. August 2014.On arrival in the Charcialbalda Festival context, I surveyed the location including surrounding pine forest and pastures. In the end I choose to perform at the heart of the community - beside the well from which all the water for the festival was drawn.I used a similar strategy as previous ‘Water Table’ Performances, but in this occasion I had created A4 prints of the contemporary Polish Oil & Gas Industry & Fracking, as well as images of Polish Rivers with Oil & Gas Company Logos superimposed to lay on top of the river images.During the performance I slowly raised the table by clamping lengths of wood onto each of the table legs, in turn. Over time raising the table up to about three meters height. On each of the lengths of wood used to extend the table legs I stapled one of the images.As the table rose the shorter wooden batons were replaced by longer ones. The removed batons were placed around the well, forming a kind of defensive circle.My intention, and the main theme within the artwork is the danger that the Shale Gas and the Oil & Gas Industry represents for the Polish Environment, particularly for water. The term ‘Water Table’ has two meanings in English, in this case it refers to the actual table in the performance and also to the ‘water table’, or level of ground water, under our feet. This was particularly prescient at the Charciabalda context as the water from under our feet was used to drink, cook and clean. We often forget how much we humans, and all life, relies on pure, clean water. If forgotten and neglected it may quickly become polluted under our noses and behind our backs.