Black Works
Out of the blackness a downpour of flour fell from the ceiling like fine snow, covering the floor. Using brooms or their bodies, the ensemble of performers left marks in the white dust which varied from impromptu body traces to abstract designs, figurative drawings and cartoons - from high art to popular culture, from individual expression to programmed action. Some performers worked blindfolded, others wore headsets and obeyed instructions that only they could hear. Marks were repeatedly modified or erased and fresh flour-falls provided, from time to time, a new start. As in The Bastille Dances, Black Works offered a quasi-historical overview suggesting that the contributions made by peoples or cultures are destroyed by those who follow.
with Bates Abbott, Bruce Gilchrist, Susannah Hart, Nicola Malin, Julian Maynard Smith, Jo Miles, Mole Wetherell
"A finely tuned black comedy about our evolution from dumbness to articulacy"
The Independent
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Commissioned by the ICA, London; Mickery Theatre, Amsterdam; Creative Time, NYC; Gessneralle, Zurich and the Grenada Festival
An ArtsAdmin production 1991
selected performances:
ICA, London; BITEF, Belgrade; The Kitchen, New York; Grenada Festival; Touch Time Festival, Amsterdam; Festival des Ameriques, Montreal; Theater Spectakel, Zurich; Antwerp Festival; Green Room, Manchester; Warwick Arts Centre; Prema Arts Centre, Dursley
