Commissioned by Survival Kit Festival, and part of Umeå European Capital of Culture programme 2014, this work
developed existing research on expanded or alternative DJ practices. Specifically emerging from interest in a) Hakim Bey’s ‘temporary autonomous zones’, and their rich history in popular music and activism; b) physical and mental endurance of long-duration performance.

I set myself the following rules, as performance framework:
“I will undertake a series of extended duration DJ performances in various locations around the city and surrounding rural area. These will range from urban centres to remote sites, sheltered and exposed locations. The site specific works will function without access to mains electricity. I will perform in a different site for each performance. I will perform for a duration of 8 hours in each performance. I will perform at a different time of day or night for each performance. I will not eat, sleep or break during each performance. I will be alone in this action.”

Reflecting on the work - the presence of both performer and sound in locations out of the ordinary mean observers find themselves in a space, even if only for a moment, removed from the organisational confines and expectations of the society they live in. The extended action of performance without breaks for food or other basic needs, and in locations at the mercy of the elements and whim of the observer, highlighted considerations of physical stamina, bodily endurance and the vulnerability of the human body. For myself as artist - notions of ‘fear’, ‘vulnerability’ and ‘confrontation’ became central to the work, and the act of undertaking this work became as much about the lone female body in a public space as anything else.

http://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/16442