The viral infection I’ve had recently has left me feeling quite depleted; I still haven’t managed to get to the studio to address the dire mess it’s in and I’ve had to let go of fulfilling any of the projects I had anticipated starting for the new year. Getting better has been a priority and I’ve taken advantage of quiet days at home to catch up with reading, writing and sorting through images of my recent work – and in particular, the images I took of Here Today, exhibited as part of The Beginning of History group show. This particular piece was created specifically for the show and developed from a conversation between myself, Nick Kaplony, the show’s curator, and Shelley Rae, another of the artists in The Beginning of History exhibition.
It was while speaking with Nick and Shelley about my proposal some weeks prior to the start of the show, that a conversation emerged about how much like a performance piece my work seemed. There was something visually captivating, I suppose about presenting them with the various physical objects I intended to use as part of an assemblage – the placing of them, the swapping and changing, as I talked my ideas through with them – trying to make up my mind about what to leave on the bedside cabinet and what to take away – a kind of ongoing, recurring dance.
It’s not the first time that performance art has been mentioned in relation to my work – certainly, I remember a choreographer I know speaking about there being strong elements of it entrenched in my 10×10 project. It’s an observation that intrigues and excites me – it adds a new dimension to the way I think about my work.
I was delighted to take up Nick’s suggestion that I experiment in interacting with Here Today during the show’s two week duration and I subsequently named the work in accordance with the idea of a here today, gone tomorrow principle.
My studio is in the same building as the ASC studios Bond House project space, where The Beginning of History was shown and being in such close proximity meant being able to visit the exhibition on an almost daily basis, allowing me to really immerse myself in both my own work and the other artists’. It felt like the perfect set-up for me – giving me the time and space to properly experiment with the various objects I was working with.
As it turned out, interacting with the work once it was in situ proved to be a rewarding and worthwhile experience. It reminded me how much I enjoy the actual process of installing – especially when it can be done at my own pace, unhurried and with space for thought and consideration about the surrounding environment. And because of the emotional attachment to the items I chose to include in this particular assemblage, it felt good to have the time to treat them with the respect I felt they deserved. Nick’s sensitive and intuitive approach to curating picked up on the personal significance of the items I brought to the show, describing my work as constructing ‘assemblages from found or inherited items wth profound associations to loved ones …’
He also acknowledged the significance of the arranging and placing process: ‘The process of arranging her materials is as significant as any resolved configuration and over the period of the show Murdoch’s work will swell and ebb within the space.’
It happens very rarely for me, so it’s lovely when someone else writes about my work – and even more so when there’s a sense that they just ‘get it’ – understand what the work is about and specifically for me, have a genuine interest in the history behind it. The Beginning of History exhibition ended in early December, 2013; this somehow though, feels like the beginning for me. It was such an amazing group show to be a part of and there’s still a lot to process, I feel.
