JOHN STURGEON

 

Saturn Return

video performance

Castle of Imagination - 6th international meeting of performance artists Byt—w, Poland - 1998

InterAzoni, Teatro ARKA, Cagliari, Sardinia Italy - 1998

 

The content of the performance centers on issues of the Father and the nature of fathering. A video projector features an enigmatic loop: a stone being thrown into a dark pool of water.

Out of this tarn set with twisted branches, the face of the artistÕs own father is revealed. Imperceptibly, the video reverses direction - sucking the stone back out of the pool into hands, waiting to cast it to water once again.

Dominating the performance with a sense of danger, a heavy bucket of water spins at the end of rope suspended from the ceiling. After endowing each stone with a quality - "of the father," Sturgeon tosses the stone across the space - splash - into the circling bucket.