Walking With Your Absence, 2020
Created within Black Box Theory.
The performance action is: Transform a wedding dress into a mourning gown.
I lost my Father, Alister. I now prepare in his palpable absence for my wedding in 2021.
A pivotal ceremony, the Marriage is traditionally a moment for a Father to give his daughter away to her future Husband. It must be noted; this role was born due to a Patriarchal history of ownership over daughters and the form of marriage a financial trade between families. However, I cannot ignore the modern context that parents hope to simply share this extraordinary moment with their child, and the palpable mourning felt walking in their absence.
This live performance work mourns my Father’s absence prior to my wedding ceremony (February 20, 2021) ; acknowledging the acute grief and indeed, working to work through it.
Scroll down to view more on the Black Box Theory Site Model which facilitated the participatory co-creation of this work.
Black Box Theory, Arthur Art Bar, South Australian Living Artists Festival, 2020
Black Box Theory - Live Performance Art Site Model
Black Box Theory is a live performance art site model that offers an engaging participatory experience, with a twist.
Think, Schrödinger's cat meets Polaroid.
Developed by Ida Sophia as a response to participatory art and physical distancing, Ida’s model embodies meaningful connectivity with participators, resulting in an experimental co-created work.
Black Box Theory is a term used to describe “a thing that has no immediately apparent characteristics and therefore has only factors for consideration held within itself, hidden from immediate observation.” (A General Black Box Theory, Mario Bunge, 1963)
At 2m X 2m X 2.4m, Black Box Theory is tall and offers no windows. An Instax Fujifilm camera lens is the sole eye on the performance inside, offering the only way to observe it. As Ida Sophia performs, the outside participant/co-creator is instructed to feel the moment and take an image. The photographs are the only record of the performance.