Tom Isaacs, Aphanisis [Disappearance], 2022. Video documentation by Motel Picture Company.
“Kneel in front of a bowl of water. Look at your reflection. Lean forward and immerse your face in the water. Hold your face under the water for as long as you can. When you cannot hold your breath any longer, remove your face from the water. Let the water drip off your face into the bowl. Wait until the surface of the water in the bowl is calm and then repeat the action.”
In this performance I explore the tension between appearance and disappearance. I attempt to merge with my reflection in a way that destroys it and threatens to destroy me, but each time I resurface and so does my reflection in the water.
This work is discussed in more detail in my thesis which is available online through the University of Sydney website: ‘Sacrificial Bodies: Body Art, Ritual and the Problem of Alienation’.
An early version of this work was performed in 2018 as part of ‘The Open Body’ at Scratch Art Space, Marrickville. ‘The Open Body’ was supported by the Inner West Council.
Tom Isaacs 