Photos: Silversalt, Josh Raymond, Fiona McGregor

Water Series was an accumulative exhibition. With photomedia of two prior works in place from the beginning, each live work then left an installation which contained traces of the performance. These took the form of materials affected by the body, and water – mainly salt. Also tattooing and infusion detritus in the case of Water #2.

All three live works used objects and sculptural elements, such as the fountain and gutter in Water #3, the table and latex bladder in Water #1, which transformed over the weeks of the exhibition as the water evaporated, creating patterns with salt.

The choice of materials was largely determined by a desire for the work to leave as little behind as possible. The distillation of ideas into the most cogent images and actions was echoed by an imperative of minimal environmental impact.

Water #3 – Expulsion, performed on November 15, was the final of the live works in Water Series. For twenty-four hours the artist was confined to a small enclosed section of the gallery, with the sole task of drinking water in order to activate a small fountain with urine. There was the action, and the object. The body reduced to function alone.

Water #2 – Passage was a performance in two parts, distilling the elements of blood and water firstly as biological imperatives; secondly as symbols of family ties and release. The performance took place on the evening of November 8, leaving a trace installation like its predecessor.

Part One shows the artist receiving saline into the left arm, whilst releasing blood from the right. Normal saline infusion contains 0.9% salt – sodium chloride (NaCl) – the same percentage that is in the human body. Blood accounts for approximately 8% of body weight, the average adult human containing 5 litres.

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The conception of this piece at the end of 2008 marked the beginning of an ongoing series of multidisciplinary performances dealing with the fundamental substance of water. Inspired by the rainfall and inflow crisis in Australia, Water #1 – Descent is from the freshwater section. A scratch version was performed in Germany as part of ZOOM Festival in 2009. The fully realised performance was done at Artspace as the opening event of Water Series on 1 November, 2011. The performance left a trace installation which remained for the three weeks of the exhibition.

For six hours, the salt-covered body lay below a latex bladder of locally collected rainwater, which dripped onto the forehead. The salt was Murray River salt from Mildura; the bladder also contained water collected in sites from Lake Eyre, through the Murray River and outback Australia, to eastern NSW.

Dealing with cycles and consumption, the performance was due to run for 24 hours, but finished earlier than expected. The artist’s 54 kilo body weight was echoed by 54 litres of water in the bladder. (In most parts of the world, people consume less than 60 litres of water daily for all their needs; in Australia, we consume that much in one shower alone.)

Water #1 – Descent is an extended study of stillness and thirst; an image of torture, beauty and wastage.