The Unwell
Martin O’Brien
Online from 26 February – 21 March
Martin’s very own version of a zombie film was commissioned in 2015 by City Arcadia and made in collaboration with Suhail Ilyas. The Unwell takes us into an apocalyptic landscape inhabited only by strange, coughing bodies, and is part of Martin’s ongoing exploration of the figure of the zombie as a metaphor for the sick body.
“This used to be the most optimistic city in the world. Now it’s full of darkness illuminated by the fading street lamps….. This city used to be our future but now the future belongs to the unwell”.
The launch event also marked the release of LADA publication Survival of the Sickest, the art of Martin O’Brien. The first book bringing together writing and documentation on Martin O’Brien and marks ten years of his work. It includes photographs and essays by philosophers, performance scholars and art historians including Alphonso Lingus and Amelia Jones.
Martin O’Brien is best known for his long durational solo performances and collaborations with the pioneering body artists Sheree Rose. His work draws upon his experience of suffering from cystic fibrosis. His performance and video art is concerned with physical endurance, disgust long durations and pain base practices in order to address a politics of the sick, queer body and examine what it means to be born with a life threatening disease, politically and philosophically.
Banner image credit:
Martin O’Brien, credit Timothy Fluck
An online event to celebrate the launch of artist and writer Tara Fatehi Irani’s new book Mishandled Archive, published by LADA. Be ready for some dressing up and shaking shoulders.
Read moreled by Joon Lynn Goh An open conversation with performingbordersLIVE20 artists and writers in residence (Àníké Bello, Jade Foster, Istanbul Queer Art Collective, Jade Montserrat and The White Pube). Not fully emergent from the global pandemic, what have we as individuals, and the respective communities that we are part of, learnt about time? Sunday 25 October, 2.30pm-4pm
Read morePerformingBorders2020 ‘Lavender Man’ screening by Tania El Khoury in collaboration with Mohamad Ali “Dali” Agrebi
Read morePerformingBorders2020 ‘Re:Seeding in correspondence’ screening by Jade Montserrat and Webb-Ellis.
Read moreA three-day gathering, bringing all the performingbordersLIVE20 together to reimagine borders-free collaborative Live Art practices.
Read moreA screening of A Declaration of Independence, a film documenting the first iteration of A Declaration of Independence in June 2018 at LADA, performed by Selina Rose, Paula Pinho Martins Nacif, Chloe Filani, Marwa Belghazi, Buki Bayode, Foluke Taylor, and Aisha Mohammed.
Read moreA series of film and digital works by Krishna Istha, River Lin, La Ribot, Robin Deacon and Nicola Fornoni.
Read moreA series of film and digital works by Jamie Hale, Lois Weaver, Tehching Hsieh and Nando Messias, plus LADA Screens Keith Khan.
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