Thu 3 Jul, 5.30-8.30pm, Sat 5 & Sun 6 Jul, 2-5pm
Gallery 2
| Monday | Closed |
| Tuesday | 11am–6pm |
| Wednesday | 11am–6pm |
| Thursday | 11am–9pm |
| Friday | 11am–6pm |
| Saturday | 11am–6pm |
| Sunday | 11am–6pm |
Whitechapel Gallery is committed to making all of our exhibitions as accessible as possible for every visitor. Please contact access@whitechapelgallery.org if you would like to discuss a particular request and we will gladly discuss with you the best way to accommodate it.
For complete access information about the gallery, please visit https://www.whitechapelgallery.org/visit/access/.
In aggregate, Helen Davison tests the human form under the weight of various materials, layered over time. The durational performance tracks the body’s response to pressure and the moments of connection it finds outside of itself. Over a period of three hours, the artist lies between the concrete floor of the gallery and a sheet of reinforced glass. Suspended above is (in order of performance); a canopy containing grit salt; a canopy containing dandelion seeds and a small sock containing iron filings. Vocalisations are made in response to the acoustics of the space, the feeling as the glass connects and disconnects with the artist’s skin, and the materials as they are agitated and released to fall onto the glass surface. While the overarching framework remains the same for each performance, adaptations to the materials and improvisations offer nuance to each iteration.
This is a durational performance, and audiences are welcome to drop in and out of the performance. Please note this performance contains nudity.
Helen Davison is a process-led performance artist whose practice explores the moments where communication fails, leaning into action, gesture and sound to share experiences of otherness. Through the palpable qualities of the voice and the resonances of the body, Davison seeks moments of connection outside of self, with a desire to reach cathartic transformation.
Within their solo practice, and also as part of art collective SITE (collaboration with artists Selina Bonelli and Ash McNaughton), Davison often works directly in response to public sites of architectural, ecological and socio-historic interest that hold traces of conflict. These works are an attempt to divest sites of power and offerings of protest. Davison’s use of the voice stems from their research into sound, deep listening, and an ongoing practice of vocal improvisation as an extended form of touch. They use voice in relation to everyday materials and objects that hold personal significance, investigating their inherent sonic qualities and resonances. These combine as performances that move through a slow transition and (dis)integration of images, actions and sounds.
