Drawing Breath
Drawing Breath is a durational one to one performance installation by Jordan Mckenzie that continues the artists exploration of drawing as a performative act. Upon entering the space, the artist, standing before each audience member will unbutton his shirt and place the viewers hand over his heart, allowing them to feel the artist breathing in and out once. The artist will then cover a paper bag in charcoal and, moving to a wall which has the height and width of his body mapped over its surface, blow the bag up and bang it against the wall. The whole wall has been amplified with microphones sonically amplifying the pop of the bag and echoing it around the space. The expired breath bag is then placed upon the floor. Drawing Breath is a meditation upon the most basic element of living, making the quiet and discreet act of breathing at once monumental and poetic.
Jordan Mckenzie is a performance/installation artist who has worked both nationally and internationally for over twelve years, presenting work in major art and cultural institutions. Though originally involved with identity politics and Queer Theory, new research and practice is concerned with making critical and artistic investigations into the performative potential of drawing. Mark making is explored as a process of mapping the body within space, a way of tracing its movements and plotting its absences. This work crosses the lines of performance, drawing, installation and sculpture, seeking to explore the point at which the body and the mark (drawing) break through the terrain of traditional definition and establish new dialogues and relationships.