TACTICAL A.U.

April 1961, Yuri Gagarin becomes the first Human to journey into space.
June 1961, I am conceived and begin my own journey into life.



Recently there have been reports of a project that will send humans to Mars on a one way trip - http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2013/apr/22/mars-one-project-astronauts - The story interests me, not for the science especially, but for the idea that we could still do this; send people on a grand adventure, a one way trip for the sake of pushing the boundary of human knowledge and experience a little further. The idea gives me hope for the future of our species (if I can ignore the fact that it is part funded by a Big Brother style reality TV channel!). But why does it fill me with hope? Why am I worried about the fate of humankind? Why does it matter?



I am certainly never going to do such things. My journey is earth bound, gravity restricted, internal. Finite. This journey will take me all my life to accomplish. I know I’m well on my way, but for some reason there are no controls or readouts on my internal guidance system. I not sure how far I’ve travelled - why I’m on this trip - or how far I have left to go?



As someone who is re-engaging with making performance after many years on the sidelines, I would like to explore my fascination with space, time, distance, and memory. I have a need to challenge myself - to wrestle and argue with my own onboard computer system. I want to play around with the big and the small questions in life. My place, position and meaning within the Universe.



I want to confront the black hole at the centre of myself. Admit to myself what I know - and  don’t know.

I need to ask if it is conceptually as far to journey to a solitary atom in our own bodies as it is to a star in the night sky?

To roll around in the aurora of static and sparks that we call life and see what flecks of memory stick to my being.

Can we draw a straight line from an atom to the stars? - and what happens if we find we’ve drawn a circle....

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I want to go on a journey, I want to explore. But I think I’m afraid of where I’m going....

 

 

Between Atoms and the Stars was preformed over two night at Arches Live! Glasgow, October 2013.