Thursday 11th November.

Last night was my last contribution to 'Is it madness. Is it beauty' by Clare Twomey at the Siobhan Davies Studios. Gill Clarke will take over until it finishes on Sunday at 6pm.

Look through the photos to go back in time to the beginning. Maybe someone will send me a picture of the last day to finish off the progression.

Two events happened last night:

After I'd been pouring water into vessels and mopping up the water as the vessels cracked and spilled their contents on the ground for about two hours, two women came into the room. They stood and watched and chatted, and sat and watched and chatted about monotony in general. About how my tasks were quite varied so maybe it wasn't so bad to be doing what I was doing... Then one woman started to relate to her friend the story of the dung beetle. How he gathered his ball of dung several times his own size and rolled it up a slope which took hours. As it reached the top he lost hold. The dung ball tumbled back to the bottom. The dung beetle collected his load and started up the slope...
They were in the room a long time, enjoying each others company, appreciating the piece, 'getting it'.


Later, when the room was completely empty, a man strode in. He looked around briefly and demanded that the invigilator tell him what it was all about. When he didn't get a reply that satisfied him, he turned to me as I mopped and asked "Why is it so wet in here?"
I continued mopping...

Week two. Wednesday 10th November.

The stack going down
4.30pm Wednesday 10th November

9pm

Alison helping to mop up the last breaks

Friday 5th November. collapsing and rebuilding.

9pm Friday

Thursday 4th November...

Before

After

Is it madness. Is it beauty. Ongoing diary. Day one, 2nd november 2010

4pm. Getting ready for day one.

Clare and Gill

As the water spills from the collapsing bowls, Gill or myself mop the water. The mop and bucket work like a cloak of invisibility. People carry on personal conversations a table width away. Even though it is clear we are facilitating the work, we vanish into our task.

9pm. End of day one.

Is it madness. Is it beauty

In rehearsal for 'Is it madness.Is it beauty'. 31 November 2010.

Gill Clarke and myself will be helping Clare Twomey realise her installation piece 'Is it madness. Is it beauty' at the Siobhan Davies Studios over the next two weeks. The piece will evolve over time and I will post regular photographs of its development and/or destruction.

The piece is described: "Futile actions of hope continue, unrelenting, despite their impending devastation..."

2nd November to 7th November and 10th November to 14th November to see it in action. 85 St George's Road, London, SE1 6ER. See www.siobhandavies.com for times.