Authentic Relic

Above: Stills from Authentic Relic, Video, 2010.

Below: Authentic Relic, video with live performance 2011, Catalyst Arts, Belfast.

The video is an outcome of a residency at The Curfew Tower in Cushendall, Northern Ireland, which was programmed by Catalyst Arts. The simple purposeful action of Authentic Relic constitutes a movement work defined by the process of the given task.

Sanding the table as a live performance represents a connection between the utilitarian action of domestic ritual and relic properties of studio produced artworks. In exhibition the performance echoed the video showing the same action. By presenting the live re-performance of the work together with the video, levels of access and connection to the work are offered to the viewer, from recorded digital image, to the gestural movement of the performer, to the objects of table, sandpaper, scissors and cloth.

Live performer – Davy Mahon.