AUDIENCE ENTRANCE
On entering the space one by one, the audience members are presented with a small installation on a plinth containing shrimp from the experiment on which this piece is based, placed in vials, next to vials of antidepressants cut into a half-moon shape. They are supplied with magnifying glasses to examine the specimens before taking their seat.
AUDIENCE PROGRAMME TEXT
This performance began with an experiment in marine biology. Professor Alex Ford of the University of Portsmouth measured the effects of antidepressants in coastal sea water on the behaviour of Shrimp.
Shrimp have evolved to stay in the shadows, where it’s safe. As the levels of antidepressants in the ocean rise, the shrimp show a tendency to swim upwards into the light, where they are often eaten by seagulls.
This effect is measurable because of the many millions of humans who take these medications. You might think of the experiment as a measure of secret human sadness.
Even today mental illness is personalised - an individual problem with no bearing on society and whether the structures of late capitalism are working or producing happy humans. Not to speak of other species. Not to speak of the Earth.
We are given pills and asked to go back to work. This economy is designed to grow perpetually.
If these things make sense, why are so many millions burying their despair beneath the ocean waves? Even the shrimp have noticed
This is a live performance for three artists: Paul Michael Henry (choreography, dance, music, concept); Jer Reid (music, dramaturgy) and Jamie Wardrop (visual design and live video art). The text given indicates what the audience experience on entering the performance space. I have also included the live text spoken during the performance as it may not be clear on the recording. Full video of a performance in Frankfurt in February 2020 can be seen by clicking the image below (full screen option available).
TEXT SPOKEN BY MICHAEL DURING THE PERFORMANCE
SECTION 1
A painful swelling of the face and throat
A yellow of the skin or the eyes
Headaches, drowsiness, hair loss, chills and sweating
Strange visions
Plastic of the heart and the hands
A reduced sense of touch
Keep this leaflet
Over 4000 different drugs running every day down drains and plugholes
Through sewers and cisterns
Out into the ocean
Where they whisper to the fishes and shrimp
Keep this leaflet
The following side effects have been observed:
An unusual production of breast milk in men and women
Dissociation and feelings of unreality
Isolation from family and friends
Plastic of the gums and brain
Memory loss
Difficulty sleeping
Difficulty waking up
An obscure feeling of loss or panic
But this medication has been developed with you in mind
It will soothe your yearning
It will dull your love
It will make things copeable
Imagine the jaws of a seagull closing on a shrimp
The moon is leaving us at a rate of 1cm every year
Plastic of the guts and feet
A reduced sense of touch
Nightmares, boredom, ennui
A reduced sense of touch
Ghosts along the spine
A reduced sense of touch
These pills may make you feel worse before you feel better
These pills may make you worse before you feel
SECTION 2
Please
Soft
Please
Soft
Please soften your eyes:
I’m searching for the moon in my blood
We’ve been moonless and tideless
And trembling and tideless
We’re missing each other.
We’re walking right through each other.
Focus on the hurt place
In the chest.
Lunary
I have a question:
Will you be the moon in my blood?
Soften your eyes.
Please soften your eyes.
Will you be the moon in my blood?