Further images / Return to 1999
Description: A large sheet of white paper was temporarily placed in the middle of the footpath on Oxford Street in inner city Sydney. The Action Researcher/Performer remained stationary on this piece of paper for a three-hour period silently recording her sensory experience of the location into a large notebook. Locals stopped to observe the notations, some asking questions, others offering cups of tea and a few sitting beside her to contribute to the recording process. Some local homeless people and buskers also decided to set up on the piece of paper creating a very charged little space on the ground. Soon, four police officers arrived and the Action Researcher/Performer was told that her installation was a public liability threat and that consequently she would be required to leave immediately. After much contestation (via writing on her notepad to the officers), they agreed that she could stay for another hour as long as the piece of paper was moved to the inside edge of the footpath. The four police officers then assisted the Action Researcher/Performer to shift the piece of paper, each holding one corner and placing it back down on the ground a metre away from its original position.