| On
the 10th of February 2008, Laura Dean and Pablo
Pakula presented a micro-performance as part
of The Book of Blood 3, at the National Review
of Live Art (Glasgow).
They
reprised the performance as part of The Book
of Blood 4 at the Chelsea Theatre, London, for
the ‘Sacred’ season.
The Book of Blood is an ongoing and collaborative
project that explores issues relating to human
rights, and was conceived by the international
company Leibniz.
The main event of The Book of Blood is the invitation
to each audience member to donate of a drop
of his or her blood in order for a calligrapher
to copy out the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights. This central event is juxtaposed with
a series of micro-performances presented by
other artists.
Accidental Collective’s contribution was
entitled Our Daily Bread, a short cycle of 5
minutes which was repeated to one audience member
at a time. Whilst Pablo Pakula, on all fours,
offered himself as a living chair, Laura Dean
sat behind a series of knives that hung on chains
from the ceiling. The audience member was instructed
to choose the knife that s/he would like the
performer to use. On the table, a loaf of red
coloured bread was unwrapped, and the performer
cut a slice in order to share it with the audience
member.
In its simplicity, this micro-performance was
laden with many connotations: religious iconography,
rituals, problems of exploitations and consumption…
The audience members were placed in a position
of power and were given a physical means to
experience and reflect upon their effect on
the world. |
