Barbara Campbell's inflorescent
'Inflorescence. 1. The mode in which the flowers of a plant are arranged in relation to the axis and to each other ... 2. The process of coming into flower.'1
The tradition of the nude is a history of bodies, surfaces, seeing and being seen. Barbara Campbell's recent performance lnflorescent addresses these relations by drawing in the tradition of the nude. Borrowing from its repertoire of pose and gesture, Campbell reclines on a chaise longue in a dimly lit space, gently fanning herself-the genre has been revivified and transfigured. As the fan moves across the body its contours and phosphorescent surface inscriptions alternately emerge and recede. The markings are fine tracings of cycads, those unique ancient species valued as decorative, ornamental conservatory plants.
The first siting of the performance was in a crevice between two display cases at Sydney University's Macleay Museum. Campbell was a curious temporary exhibit amongst the ethnographic collections. The performance could be viewed directly, intimately, or at a remove through a video monitor trained on the space. A yellowing effect on the screen registered Campbell's figure strangely, lending it the patina of a varnished canvas. This distancing effect was interrupted by viewers moving in and out of the camera's trajectory. Who were the objects of curiosity here?
The second siting was in the Cube at the Canberra Contemporary Art Space. This time distancing was created by the surface of the window through which one looked to apprehend the performance. The window was walling us out, its diminutive size reinforcing the sense of self-consciously occupying the viewing space with one's fellow spectators. Through the dim light in the walkway outside the Cube we saw