‘Two/One/Zero’, was a performance made on a beach in Cyprus. Four performers marked out their respective social distances of 2m, 1.5m and 1m. The work makes connections between the ancient and the current, using references to the cycle of birth, life, death and the after life.  

 

The work was the result of a short stay at the Cyprus College of Art (@cypruscollegeofart) in August 2020. It was an extremely productive time and it was great to work along side and share the enthusiasms of students from Central Saint Martins (CSM), London who were in residence as part of the Erasmus Plus and Grampus heritage programme (#grampusheritage).

During the stay, I was able to explore and test ideas for a new series of works that continued my exploration of borders and boundaries, particularly those that were redefined during the lockdown period of 2020. I've always been fascinated by the ancient circle carvings that are found on rocks, the spirals and circles. No one knows for sure what they mean and one theory is they represent 'the circle of life'. I wanted to reference this in the context of the pandemic and how the focus of humanity so quickly shifted to thinking about the 'the circle of life'. Using a simple tool, the performers mark out distances by drawing circles of 2 metres, 1.5 metres and 1 metre around them. 

Thank you to the four students from CSM who participated in the performance and allowed me to realise this piece of work: Amelia Claringhbull, Charlie Ford, Jessica Reeves and Zoe Horne.

Also many thanks to the other members of the group for their discussions and varied input to the work.

Finally, a special thanks to Margaret Paraskos, the Director of the Cyprus College of Art.

 

The work was conceived and directed by Alan Rutherford.

Please note - all participants in the performance had recently had a Covid test with a negative result. 

The work was also made possible through funding and kind support provided by:

Grampus Heritage & Training, Erasmus + and Cyprus College of Art

Logos of funders and support - Grampus, Erasmus and Cyprus College of Art

 

Above: The performers on the beach 

Above: Initial sketch showing the concept / idea 

cup and ring markings

Above: 'Cup and Ring' markings, Kilmartin Glen, Scotland (image: artists own collection) 

 

Above: Tools used for making the marks

Above: The performance on the beach and zones marked out in the sand 

  

To watch the performance, press the 'play' button on the player below:

 

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