Plank and Hammer, Performance Documentation, Film Photography, 2022
Shhhh… be still, flesh and bone
But blood floods fingers
The heart picks up to a pitter patter
Toes curl, stomach churns
Head spins, ears ring
Knees buckle under pressure
Clenched phalanges and cracked breath
Tongue red teeth of iron
All is but frozen flesh
Cyanotype was historically used to create "cheap proof copies" in print industries. Here, it is used to record proof of the body during a performance, which resulted in a back-to-back diptych. In the first performance, the artist attempted to do a plank for the duration of the development time, 15 minutes, knowing it was an impossible task.
The ethereal image before you is a result of the writhing and wriggling in a desperate attempt to physically endure. In the second performance, the artist lay still, in a fetal-like position. Finger and toes gripped at the fabric, almost in desperation. In this piece, what you don't see is important. This is a body frozen -- not still.
“I learned a lot through
focusing on process and not product.
It felt good to embed emotions into an object and to project pain into something tactile.”
-Emalee
