Loss Velocity

In 1969, Barry Le Va had presented ‘Velocity Piece’, a work comprising 2 speakers installed at either end of the gallery, and from which emanated the sound of Le Va’s footsteps and his body impacted against the wall, all for the duration of 1 hour and 49 minutes. A year earlier, Bruce Nauman performed ‘Bouncing Two Balls Between the Floor and Ceiling with Changing Rhythms’. Nauman had bounced two balls in the centre of a marked squared on his studio floor, throwing them as forcefully as he could while trying to maintain a constant rhythm as the balls and the recorded image would ricochet unpredictably and out of sync. The presented work is a documentation of the artist’s performance within the gallery space. The performance was governed by four rules:

1.   To last for the same duration as ‘Velocity Piece’
2.   Would attempt to synchronise both balls together.
3.   Both balls needed to hit the floor and the ceiling at least once.
4.   No one would witness the performance.

7.9 Cubic Metres, was an artist-initiated project by James Carrigan, hosted by the Stanley Picker Gallery and curated by Eliza Tan spanning 12-months. Other contributors included AK Dolven, Jeremy Millar, Trong G. Nguyen and Judy Freya Sibayan.