Securing Desire

                                         Further images  /  Return to 2001

Description: Over the duration of six months the Action Researcher/Performer walked along every street and lane within a defined area of inner city Sydney, documenting interactions between members of the local community.  The investigation included- taking photographs, writing notations, developing prose, drawing diagrams and collecting fragments of detritus from the numerous locations visited and observed.  These pieces of 'evidence' of location were catalogued with a coding system until a ‘sense of place’ and narrative underscore emerged.  An abandoned allotment within the investigated area was chosen as a model representation, scaled down in size, of the larger district.  Three Action Researcher/Performers were positioned in different sections of this site, each undertaking different activities reflective of scenes observed within the defined research area.  The replication of activities, abstracted, stylised, and reproduced within the originally anonymous allotment charged the space with new meaning and brought attention to its otherwise dormant aesthetic.  The live storytelling of a local community played back in a theatrical manner, gave value and recognition to the equivalent actions of everyday life.



© Astra Howard 2014