Arriving at the second half of the year, and moving artistic endeavour away from the trials of food, I present to you Leviathan; a mythical sea monster with no mass and no shape. It is a monster that can be speculated, positioned and exploited with a great degree of freedom.
But how does this exploitation manifest itself? Well, as a project that I’d describe as natural development away from food, yet still informed by it, I hypothesise that Leviathan exists within us. Leviathan has the capacity to exist as a metaphor, and therefore be aligned intrinsically with human endeavour. So, given Leviathan’s metaphorical tendencies, I present to you a speculative tonic, a scientists’ log and wall text describing the uncovering of the sea monster:
This is what Leviathan looks like.
This work, produced in collaboration with Sharon Mossbeck, is a theatrical exploration of man’s descent into madness, and speculates that madness is a concept which is able to take the shape, mass and physical presence of Leviathan. The work projects that drinking the tonic allows the participant to adopt the form of Leviathan – to become possessed and maddened. The tonic is informed by the text found within the book – itself a fictitious account of a scientists’ descent into madness. Thematically, the work investigates what happens when memory, personal experience and anecdotes are appropriated as true scientific fact. This objectification of personal memory and experience has ethical, social and philosophical implications that will be expanded upon.
Reviving Leviathan is part of a group exhibition taking place at Arena Gallery, Liverpool, until 20th July.
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