Precedent

In Precedent, a linear, articulated structure of fabric and timber moves along the busy pathways around Lake Burley Griffin. This malleable and mobile structure makes its slow, awkward journey between the bridges, aided by the iterative movements of four performers. Borrowing from the language of construction sites, these performers climb the work along the pathways in tandem, each pushing the other to advance the piece a little further along the thoroughfare.

Precedent relies on incremental changes in the performer’s repetitive movements in order for the sculptural structure to travel from place to place. The sculpture echoes the formal qualities of the architecture between the bridges, the stand of flag poles and the curve of the concrete path. The lake is a site is heavy with histories built up over time, and changed through slow, deliberate movement. Meaningful change is not fast; it is performed over years through accrual of actions made collectively and individually. Precedent explores these ideas through embodied, temporal practice, adaptive structures and low-vis vests.