“the elephant in the room”
(the lack of sense of necessity)
Museum Arnhem, June 22 until July 14, 2024
A, 20 day art performance, turning 7.705 pages (printed on colourful paper) of the IPCC (UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) working groups I, II and III reports of the sixth assessment cycle and the Synthesis Report, into confetti as an example of the lack of sense of necessity.
Description of the performance: “the elephant in the room” (the lack of sense of necessity)
I use a two-holes hole puncher / paper puncher.
I sit for almost 6 hours daily (the opening times of the museum) at a table, repeating the same movement of hole punching.
I walk into the room in silence just after opening of the museum and I leave in silence just before closing time.
I do this 6 days a week (the opening days of the museum Tuesday to Sunday), for 20 days from June 22 until July 14 – 2024.
During the hours of the performance I don’t speak.
During the hours of the performance I don’t eat, I only drink water.
During the hours of the performance the only intermission I allow myself is going to the toilet; I stay silent.
On day 20 I leave the table in silence, the confetti will remain for about two weeks.
After that I come back and clean in silence.
This performance, a stark reminder of how we continue to ignore the pressing reality of the changing climate, the loss of biodiversity and the impact of pollution.
Inspiration: performance
Spring 2022.
Blossom, the spring confetti, drifting like snow through the streets.
The sense of joy, spring dispelling the gray skies, where this winter seemed like an everlasting autumn.
The winters are getting milder, the summers with more extremes, drought, floodings, wildfires.
There is a party on the corner of the street, I remember the fuss in February about whether carnival could continue because of the pandemic (Covid19), if there were no more important things at stake.
My thoughts melted my sense of joy, the new IPCC reports made a fresh new memory, showing the lack of sense of necessity.
The performance is about labor, sacrifice, and dedication, It’s the time span which gives the performance its strength and significance along with the immense monotony repeating movement of what I do over those 20 days
The physically and mentally exhausting performance underscores the endurance and devotion needed to create change.
The wooden table and chair are deliberately chosen as crucial elements of the performance, a chair with no ergonomic value, knowing it will cause pain..
The confetti purely symbolizes festivity to evoke a mindset, the contrast between the cheerful confetti until they read the accompanying text what is an important part of the performance where every detail was meticulously planned even the overall I did wear.
Museum arnhem
photo’s: Gerard Burgers © 2024