Scheer, Edward, 1964-. (2008) Australia's post-Olympic apocalypse? PAJ - A Journal of Performance and Art, Vol.30 (No.1 (PAJ 88)). pp. 42-56. ISSN 1520-281X

Abstract

On April 8, 2005, at 6.30 p.m., sixty-year-old Australian performance artist Mike Parr commenced a performance action entitled Kingdom Come and/ or Punch Holes in the Body Politic before an audience of mostly students, journalists, and artists at Artspace in Sydney. In a bright orange suit, complete with matching shoes and socks, and a handkerchief in the breast pocket of the jacket, Parr sat on an orange chair beneath powerful lights and a battery of cameras. Attached to the toes of his right foot was a small electrode, which transmitted a low-voltage shock whenever anyone activated the electroshock system by crossing the path of sensors located in front and to the sides of the space where Parr sat. The voltage was just strong enough to force Parr’s body into a momentary spasm and his face to register shock and anger. Crossing the path of the sensors also triggered a microphone and a video camera that beamed a dissolving image of Parr’s surprised, irritated face onto the wall of an adjacent gallery.

Data sourced from Thomson Reuters' Web of Knowledge

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