Trust Exercise @ Breezeblock, Sydney

This weekend is the last chance to see Trust Exercise, a group show curated by artist Z.O'Mahoney that I was invited to take part in alongside a whole bunch of my favourite Sydney souls.

Hosted by the project space Breezeblock, the show closes this Sunday 12 October 2014. It includes works by Australian artists:

Bonita Bub
Mitchel Cumming
Georgia Emslie
Brian Fuata
Susan Gibb
Andrew Haining
Elliot Hughes
Talitha Klevjer
Cara Stewart
Eleanor Weber

Press release:

"We were raised that maybe we should die in our own name to serve the market, and lived in each other, taking ownership of everything and nothing...

I am still quite unwell. I have been hoping to get it together to say what I needed to say before now, presuming there is anything left to say at all. I suppose it works out for the best that I am in some kind of state and am left reliant on my friends to convey what it was I was sort of unsuccessfully trying to get at... that I was trying to put this together as a shared enterprise, to facilitate things happening as well as contributing my own ideas, because I love this life that I share. I love that so many nights are taken up going to look at things and talk to people who put things into the world usually at a cost - both financially, and in the acceptance that regardless of the calibre of the work they will be judged harshly by some; knowing that they are unlikely to ever profit by choosing this path, or mode of being. At best, what we have is what we share and it is something beyond anything that could be measured in monetary terms or defined by any self-interested theory of value (citing status). Every person I have involved in this exhibition has my trust, my respect and my love. The people exhibiting in this exhibition are people that have shared things with me... too much wine... or sent me emails about things I might like... or mixtapes... they've shared knowledge and ideas that were exciting and interesting to me. I am grateful to have the opportunity through Sean (Breezeblock) to be able to in turn facilitate passing some of that on... that's really all I have to answer for a curatorial statement.

I would love it if you would join us.

Zoe (O'Mahoney/Robertson)"



My contribution to the show was a text in the form of a script to be performed on the night of the opening, Saturday 20 September 2014, by three of the artists (Andrew, Brian and Zoe). The script was written with these three friends in mind, and the characters were named after them (A, B and Z). Although this personal side was very important, I also wanted the text to be quite detached in tone, and general; the characters are interchangeable and theoretically anyone could play them. That said, the text wouldn't exist without my relationships with Andrew, Brian and Zoe. I trusted them, and I liked the idea of a writer becoming physically present through multiple (loved) bodies projecting words that exist only because those relationships do.

A Trust Exercise zine was published, which includes the script in hard copy. Otherwise, you can read and download it by clicking here: https://www.scribd.com/doc/242084812/Trust-Exercise-rats.

Pictures of the performance (thanks to Sean Rafferty):




Many thanks to Zoe for inviting me, and to she, Brian and Andrew for performing!

EDIT: Watch this fantastic video titled 'Roll Credits' made by Mitchel Cumming to cap it all off!