Dreams or Death, 1993, 300 x 140 x 80 cm, glass, polyurethane, textile, feathers, water, metal, compressor.
The object is shaped like a hybrid exercise machine, in the shape of a bed. It consists of two parts:
1 – A hollow glass plate filled with photographic developer. This flat container is also a housing for a mattress immersed in this liquid.
2 – From a basin covered with white velvet. It is an integral part of the hydraulics of the glass base. Therefore, it is also filled with developer, which can flow freely from one container to another. This basin is equipped with rotating wings on the inside, on which goose feathers are applied. Each of the wings can be operated manually separately using a crank.
Dreams or Death, 1993, 300 x 140 x 80 cm, glass, polyurethane, textile, feathers, water, metal, compressor.
The simulator is designed to develop an image in the area in front of the sink. A light-sensitive emulsion is applied to the floor. The simulator must be used in absolute darkness.
The best time to activate it is when the actor is in a state of sleepwalking. If this is not possible due to the unpredictability of this phenomenon, a state in which the performer finds himself on the border of sleep and wakefulness will suffice. At this moment, he should lie comfortably on his stomach, grab both handles in his hands and start turning them, as needed, so that the right hand moves clockwise and the left hand in the opposite direction. Thanks to this technique, a flowing swirl of liquid occurs, which then begins to suck the developer from the mouth of the glass plate, i.e. from the place that is closest to the actor’s body. As a result, the actor has the feeling that the liquid is a part of him. The swirling developer, adhering to the wetting feathers of the wings, is thus as if sprayed directly from the actor’s body into the space in front of him, then hits the light-sensitive layer and develops fragments of the image with which the drops of developer have come into contact.
Dreams or Death, 1993, 300 x 140 x 80 cm, glass, polyurethane, textile, feathers, water, metal, compressor, detail.
