chevron_left chevron_right twitter_sign facebook_sign double_angle_left double_angle_right angle_left angle_right youtube vimeo_square _525 _526 align_justify reorder envelope_alt _419 download_alt

Electric [2010]

First performed as part of Battersea Arts Centre’s One on One Festival July 2010.

“Walking away with a tingle still caught on your skin and a bemused smile, it’s the sort of experience that feels like a small privilege. An opportunity given. Another of life’s little experiences ticked off the list.” Matt Trueman

Just how much do you know about electricity?

 

Join ‘Professor Lee’ for a short conversation about the nature of the hidden force that drives our technologically intense lives. Feel the force. Become one with the electrons. In the safe hands of ‘Professor Lee’ you will experience, if you so chose, a mild electric shock, completely safe, of course….. By holding hands we will make a circuit. Our bodies become capacitors and the electricity passes through us. You can’t see electricity, but you can feel it.

Electric was made for Battersea Arts Centre’s first One-on-One Festival, a festival of short performances for one audience member at a time. Set in a disused office space at the rear of the building Electric took the form of a five consultation with ‘Professor Lee’. During this consultation the performer and the audience member would have a discussion about the nature of electricity before being offered to share a low voltage and low power electric shock by creating a circuit between the electric shock machine and the performer. The piece was performed over two hundred times during the festival.

Technical:

The electric shock was provided by a vintage shocking coil running off 3v DC with a current of no more than one or two milliamps. The electric shock was a continuous back current creating a distinctive tingling sensation rather than a spike caused by build up of voltage in a capacitor for example. All participants were aware of the nature of the work before entering and taking part. All audience members were asked if they had epilepsy and or a pace maker.

Supported by:

Battersea Arts Centre