This project came out of a performative art workshop during M:ST 7 in Calgary, AB. Playing with the notion of invitation and audience as performer, this work involved small piles of ink-soaked salt that the audience was forced to move across. In the parking lot of the gallery was a live feed where Shawn performed the act of watching the interaction/destruction of piece we had so tediously constructed.

We were fortunate that the majority of the night's audience were performance artists, and got to witness a kind of dance and play with the work that was unexpected. The low-lit room caused the audience in the video to appear suddenly and ghost-like, moving silently over the surface of the piece. While originally envisioned as a cheeky disturbance, the work transmuted into a surreal performance of satisfying destruction.

This experiment gave us an opportunity to play with abstract notions of space, by creating a work so close to the ground, made from earthen materials of salt and ink. The contrast of presenting the work in two locations, one as document, one as interaction, was a response to the rest of the workshop's projects and the overarching theme of contentious space.

*Photos by Monika Sobczak Photography​