LabyrinthZ
Creator, Sound Designer, Performer
An installation/performance space I built on Hikkaduwa beach, Sri Lanka, in March 2017, whilst artist in residence at Sura Medura International Artist Residency.
The performance consisted of two events: a participatory promenade accompanied by a sound design created with binaural microphones, and, a solo performance devised around the notion of birth and inspired by the character of Minotaur.
"LabyrinthZ" started off as a celebration of confusion and disorientation through which I aimed to explore how these states could be catalysts for shifts of perspective and creativity. Over the course of the four building weeks I exoerienced confusion and dissorientation as the labyrinth kept transforming; it lived in a lagoon, in a lake, in a puddle and got moved around by the aggressive winds of south Sri Lanka. The sand provided a base for it to stand on, the wind and water were attacking it, the hot sun felt like fire on my body whilst building. I begun building the labyrinth on an empty expanse of sand. Its appearence moved far away from what I imagined it to be, oppening up new possibilities and thoughts on what a labyrinth could be; an architectural structure, a train of thought, a journey (birht, life, death), a relationship. Its final form included a large nest which hosted a performance inspired by the process of birth.
A huge thank you to all the people that helped me bring the labyrinth on its feet; my fellow artists and good friends Joshua Sofaer, Lewis Sherlock, Mary Genis and Ross Whyte for their love, inspiration and support; my mentors and friends Neil Butler, Bob Palmer and Bettina Linstrum for their guidance; Chaminda and Sunbeach hotel staff for their patience and help; Gamini for all the wood; Chuna, Fatiha and her friends and everyone who stopped by but never got to know their names, for their building assistance, Dr. Linda Hodges and the 4r Paper factory for their inspiration. Thank you, to all of you.
Below are some pictures outlining the labyrinth's journey.
