A Selection of Performance Art Relics: [No. 203 (2.03 %), 3 Hours and 27 minutes].
This exhibition presents a selection of performance art relics from performances that had taken place in Your Mother Gallery, Singapore. The performance art relic is a term used for objects, which are results of the transformation from states of “mere” material to “autonomous” artworks created or used during performance art. The curated display attempts to give the performance art relic an aura beyond the connections with their situational taxonomy, “labour hours” put in and the time taken to make.
Conservation Proposal
Current Status of Object: Beech Wood Brush, Red Cotton Thread, and Human Hair.
The object was produced as part of a 3 hour and 27-minute performance artwork. The artist had bundled the human hair using red cotton thread and carefully glued them using a combination of white glue and synthetic acrylic glue within ¼ inch diameter holes in the beech wood brush. All components of the object are intact and maintained in its original state as per the performance.
Interventive: The object is currently stored in a controlled environment and does not require any (form of) intervention. There is no further need to manipulate the object.
Documentation: The object is to be labeled with its title, dimensions, material(s) and date/duration of creation. Photographs of the object from multiple angles have been taken to record the selected performance art relic.
Preventive: The object should be handled with care and not exhibited.
- The object is securely stored in an airtight and watertight enclosure.
- The object is kept in extremely low light of a value of 50 lux or less.
- The object is stored in an acid-free environment (box or otherwise), where the relative Humidity (rH) value is kept at 65.0 % or less.
Formative: The object is an organic material and improved conservation of it may be considered at a later date.
This is a great conservation summary – What I wonder about is your statement that the work should not be exhibited? This will of course mean that it is more perfectly conserved, but how are you going to balance that with including it in your exhibition proposal?
At the moment, I have the intent of the (particular) Performance Art Relic to be performed in the exhibition space. As a result of this gesture, the art object will not be exhibited but set up as an opening day performance. What is then exhibited is a documentation of the object and a documentation of this performance. In this way, it highlights the ephemerality and enables the object to be “more perfectly conserved”.
That makes sense! Well thought.