Unravelling, 2018
Performance, 10 minutes
The word unravel has several meanings. It can mean to undo or come apart. It can also mean to investigate, to make clear or free from complication or difficulty. This work offers a visual metaphor. When we’re faced with challenges, we can choose to respond to external situations as invitations. When events feel beyond our control, we can find in them opportunities to explore our courage and resilience. A life-changing experience summons us to look closely at what we value. It asks us to question ourselves and to reflect. It offers us hope because in it there is the potential to create anew.
Unravelling engages with questions of process and duration through a psychological lens. While this piece has strong connections with Conceptual Art practices, my choices around form, colour and composition are each important. I made many decisions in advance but spontaneity and unpredictability were also significant. While I anticipated the wool would catch during the process, I did not know how or how often it would occur. That, and the arc of emotion that evolved during the performance were spontaneous elements. I believe that when we adjust our perspective we open up the possibility that events become catalysts for constructive transformation.
Amy McIntosh recorded and produced the video; she was the only person present at the time of the performance.