The Visceral Garden
2013
Project Details
The Visceral Garden
Synchronised 4 channel HD 1080p video, stereo, 2013
Duration: 16 minutes 47 seconds
In new work, The Visceral Garden, John A Douglas uses performance, landscapes and macro photography of specimens from the Museum of Human Disease, UNSW for an ontological investigation of his illness. Transforming from gold to copper and then into a red figure, the artist is trapped by Arachne (Naomi Oliver) and then descends from a portal into a visceral underworld. The red figure travels through a forest of death made of bones, falling into a river of blood and plunging even deeper into an abject landscape reflecting Douglas’s actual medical conditions. Unable to escape, he is finally devoured by floating organs. While Body Fluid II (redux) is based on treatment, this work is the disease itself made manifest.
Commissioned by Performance Space for ISEA 2013 and first exhibited at Performance Space Carriageworks,NSW, 2013
The Visceral Garden has also been exhibited as a single channel video.
The Visceral Garden was a finalist in the John Fries Memorial Prize 2013 and the Fishers Ghost Art Award 2013.
Production Credits
Performer: John A Douglas
Collaborative performer: Naomi Oliver
Cameras: John A Douglas, Heath Franco, Kristian Haggblom, Melanie Ryan
Macro Photography & Videography: John A Douglas
Original Soundscapes: Naomi Oliver, Heath Franco
Field Sound Recordist: John A Douglas
Sound Design and Arrangements: Heath Franco & John A Douglas.
Chroma key studio consultant: Heath Franco
Editing, digital compositing and animation: John A Douglas
Production Stills: Kristian Haggblom
Video & Stills Documentation: John A Douglas
Special Thanks to Derek Williamson, Museum of Human Disease, School of Medical Sciences, UNSW.
Lighting equipment and chroma key studio courtesy UNSWTV
Commissioned by Performance Space, curated by Bec Dean for Switched On & ISEA 2013
This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.
Helen Pynor, ‘Fluid Threats: Notes on the work of John A Douglas’, Body-Fluid-II-(Redux) Catalogue, Performance Space, May 2013