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Blind folded Husky dog training We walk in line, no one knows why, no one leads, but someone is it front (does this make them a leader? - a person in control of a group, a country or situation. A religious leader, “the leader of the pack”… On our heads spotlights unite us – what are we watching, or are we the watched. Best not to ask too many questions. Just walk. Yes this sounds good. As we embark upon our journey up the bankside we notice: Five dog trainees walking closely up and down the line of tables – they are muttering phrases they have learnt in dog training. Phrases we recognise. There is no sign of their dogs. Just listless leads. They pace, pant, shake there heads – perhaps even to some they becoming more and more dog like, a grunt – could it have been a muffled bark. A screen falls behind wall of the tables and we can longer see the view, only ice capped mountains in misty greys far into the distance cover all – Six husky dogs sit at the tables looking out at the view. Trainees out of breath now work harder to remember there phases – they are beginning to forget. Do the dogs understand them ??? This continues for sometime…………….. Six large white dogs stand on their benched tables and jump through the paper – tearing mountains with there thick coats as they pass. The sound of ripping illuminates our ears – almost painful. The lights leave us and I sense the distance between me and the person besides myself, that’s if they still are beside me. Did I image this?? - someone asks me for money and I remember I wanted something to drink…..[Emma Macfarlane 2006] |
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| The audience sits at the wooden table/bench arrangements in the foreground of the picture. A picnic lunch is served. Nearby busking musicians provide a soundtrack for the intervention. In the distance, two performers are hanging on bungees, suspended from each arch of the bridge, so that they hang down into space. Each performer is equipped with some kind of birdfood dispensing platform, so that they are each human birdfeeders. They are quickly surrounded by a constantly moving flock of seagulls, that follows the perfomers as they are moved by the wind. From the tables, they look like two small clouds of birds. The suspended performers are connected to the bridge by their bungees, and by rope to the ground, where other performers are able to change their height and position by reeling them down or by pulling them to one side. By coordinating their efforts, a slow, aerial bird ballet begins. Along the top of the bridge, and into the field below, large groups of men and women, dressed for a sporting event, begin to fight. The band plays on.
[Ed Purver 2005] |
Invisible food event. An audience arrives and takes their seats around the benches. After everyone has arrived and sat down they put on a bib and blindfolds. Once this has been done the food is brought out. Several dishes have been prepared and are served one after the other. The foodstuffs are designed for their tactile qualities, tapioca with walnut, jellies with poppy seeds and suchlike. They combine tastes in ways which exploit the unfamiliarity that being blindfolded provides. They try to encourage tasting before making judgements on what flavours and textures really are. The dishes have names that might well reflect the place: birds nest biscuits. Sounds may be subtly introduced to make the place sound as if dogs were in the park. The food would not be inedible but neither would it be conventional, probably closest in tone would be the type of dishes suggested in The Futurist Cookbook. Whilst eating the guests would be free to speak amongst themselves. After all the dishes have been served the food is removed the blindfolds lowered and the meal over.
[Bill Aitchison 2005] |
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