666_events
Global Happening
January 2012

Global activity is now possible thanks to the internet and social networking sites, it’s easy to connect people from disparate locations – it’s just a matter of time and labour. I’m spellbound by the idea of a conceptual web connecting people, who might be doing seemingly insignificant activities but on a global scale, which can be put together in film and photographic documentation to view – but it can never be experienced in full – this limitation is one of the attractions. 666_events was my third worldwide performance happening, taking place everywhere from the 23rd to the 28th January 2012. Each day participants were invited to interpret a single short instructional event and perform it 111 times – there were no other rules, restrictions or regulations and performances could be planned meticulously in advance or spontaneously improvised on the day in quick succession or spaced out. If each repetition were to last thirteen minutes, then the participants day would be totally engulfed, however, if each repetition lasted a couple of seconds then ninety-nine per cent of the day would be left free. Participants needed not complete every event, but were free to pick and choose, following the time zone of their country. It was hoped, but not obligatory, that performances were documented, in audio/visual form, or more abstractly in poetry, sculpture or sketch. However, this was not the central aim of the project and no-one need even know a performance had happened. Performances themselves spanned the spectrum from private, unobserved and solitary to extravagant, collaborative and public.

There are of course, as many ways to interpret these instructions as there are people to read them, wherein lies the focus of the excitement, coupled with knowing that somewhere in the world someone else may well be asking the same silly, serious, surreal or standard questions. Also, they need not be physical, but can be of the mind, perhaps more spiritually concentrated. Ultimately every question asked, action taken and energy expended is part of a much larger, shared experience, called, 666_events.