Laying Down/ Rising explores processes of transition and exchange. Using sculptures that incorporate fish skin, rubber, salt, egg yolk and wax, a sequence of ritual actions will be performed. Taking on integral structural roles within the unfolding sequences of action, specific objects are subject to symbolic processes of transition in which distinctions between inert and organic, subject and object are unsettled. The work explores imaginative slippages in which objects and bodies meld, hybrid forms emerge and dissolve. Laying Down/ Rising emerges from Austin’s research into Jane Bennett’s notion of ‘vibrant materiality’ and ritual practices associated with mourning, transition and loss.

The performance has four phases that are enacted over the course of several hours. Each phase begins with a sequence of action lasting 5-10 minutes. 

Performers: Ayesha Tansey, Julie Bower, Miriam Austin