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Quill Two

Quill Two was a three-day, durational performance, which was commissioned by Matt’s Gallery, London and held off-site in Dilston Grove, a deconsecrated church in Bermondsey that has been converted into an exhibition space (http://www.cgplondon.org/exhibition_thumbs.php?exhibition_id=280&show_rand=0&show_view=0&locale=DILSTON%20GROVE). The performance extended Catling’s exploration of the relationship between spaces, sculptural objects and human emotional presence and drew on his research into the history of live art practice as co-investigator on the EU Culture Commission-funded European Live Art Archive (http://www.liveartarchive.eu).

The performance took place for six hours each day in the period between twilight and total darkness. The proportions, light and smell of the building, and the ‘rough grace’ of its concrete shell, were all taken into consideration in the creation of the work. One of the most distinctive features of Dilston Grove is its internal balcony. The wooden structure of Quill Two mimicked the colour and material of the balcony and perched on its edge like a constructivist bird or DIY insect. It was only when the visitor came close to the balcony that they realised that the structure was occupied by a human host. Parts of the structure were able to unfold, change shape and stretch. The movements were limited and repetitive, but also responsive: to intruders in the hall, to the fading light, to sirens and the sounds of birds outside.

The original Quill was made for an exhibition in the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford in 1990. An image of this object – a Lee-Enfield rifle, whose stock had been modified into a tapering three-metre point – was used to advertise Quill Two, thereby establishing a conceptual continuity between the two projects.