performance wearing groin protector jockstrap with recycled plastic milk bottle, clear drinking straw, bubble solution, glass vase and marble plant toppers accompanied by a mixed media sculpture of plastic milk bottle and paper cutouts, 2-6 hours.
premiered at GROW Tottenham, London, United Kingdom for Interested?, curated by Jakob Buraczewski and Anna Kolosova, 2018.
performed for the second time at Theatre Academy, Helsinki, Finland for LAPSody, curated by Live Art and Performance Studies, 2019.
performed for the third time at Local Theatre, Sheffield, United Kinngdom for UnShut, curated by Charlotte Blackburn, 2019.
performed for the fourth time at RISEBA H2O 6, Riga, Latvia for Starptelpa, curated by Riga Performance Art Festival, 2019.
performed for the fifth time at Vanderborght Building, Brussels, Belgium for A Performance Affair, curated by Frédéric de Goldschmidt and a selection committee, 2019.
performed for the sixth time at NIAMOS, Manchester, United Kingom for Emergency, curated by hÅb, 2019.
performed for the seventh time at taT-studiobühne, Gießen, Germany for DISKURS, curated by Justus Liebig University Giessen, 2019.
performed for the eight time at Constellations, Liverpool, United Kingdom for Spill Yer Tea, curated by DRIP, 2019.
performed for the ninth time (Z-variant) at Lauba, Zagreb, Croatia for Međunarodno studentsko bijenale, curated by Academy of Arts Osijek, 2019.
presented for the tenth time (online) for Platform Project, Athens, Greece, curated by Sepersepuluh, 2020.
presented for the eleventh time (Z-variant) at Knifer Gallery, Osijek, Croatia for Međunarodnog Studentskog Bijenala (Award Exhibition), curated by Academy of Arts Osijek, 2020.
presented for the twelfth time (online) for Stockholm Fringe Festival, Stockholm, Sweden, 2020.
performed for the thirteenth time at Centerstage Gallery, Bristol, United Kingdom for Out the Window, 2020.
photo documentation by Julius Töyrylä, Nerisa Del Carmen Guevara, Lučana Logina, Peter Easton, Tamsin Drury and Marcin Sz.
video documentation by Anton Verho.
https://vimeo.com/321276659
https://vimeo.com/343871913
https://vimeo.com/388432375
https://vimeo.com/388990850
https://vimeo.com/391685835
translated into Could play no more (study of Hyacinth), pencil drawing, photographs and clear tapes on paper, 25x40cm, series of 16+3AP, 2019.
translated into Could heal no wound (study of Hyacinth), pencil drawing, photographs and clear tapes on paper, 42x30cm, series of 18+6AP, 2019.
In January 2020, Forcing Hyacinth was awarded with the first prize of Međunarodno studentsko bijenale in Zagreb, Croatia with Ivan Ladislav Galeta Award. [HR]
One foot partially submerged in cold water, tip-toeing on top of a mountain of cylindrical pervenche-huedmarbles within a glass vase. His other foot on the ground, struggling to keep his fulcrum upright. He is almost nude- not naked, covered only in white jock strap, a suggestion of his involvement in sports, further reflected by the durational piece that utilizes on perseverance and stamina. Despite so, he is also an infant in diaper or an adolescent facing sexual awakening.
In his hand is a familiar plastic milk bottle, filled with bubble liquid and slowly he blows into a clear straw, resulting in hyacinth-shaped bubbles sprouting from his mouth, phallic foam unfamiliar object growing from his jaw. The bubble accumulates throughout the performance, leaving a residue of an energetic action performed repeatedly.
The body is relatively passive, almost like a living sculpture, moving very subtly and staring blankly yet intensely like a Renaissance statue. His posture is unhurried and involved pauses, in the attempt to create dynamic images of the masculine.
His presence is almost suggesting birth. Yet accompanying him is an identical bottle lying idly on the floor, its cap is barely hanging and a paper collage sipping through its torn side. Like a bleeding head frozen in time, both elements silently weave a narrative that hints towards the Greek mythology of the hyacinth flower.
Forcing Hyacinth also borrows the narrative of the botany process of forcing hyacinth bulbs to flower. Hence within social context, it is a commentary towards the pressure, self-inflicted or otherwise, of growing up.