David Cross

Viscous is a performance/installation that attempts to challenge the ways in which we engage and come to know and encounter the human body. Upon entering the gallery space the audience are confronted with a ten-metre long minimalist-type box. Only upon closer inspection is it apparent that there is a body in the box moving up and down the length of the structure on a trolley system. For many it is the sound of this that indicates a human presence. The audience may choose to stand on the box and view the performers body through a series of slots in the structure or observe from a distance. What follows is a playful, if disorienting, visual and haptic engagement with the box operating as a filter/conduit between artist and audience. The work was of varied duration from five days to four weeks and occurred for the full duration of the galleries opening hours each day.