Fell
Carriageworks
Sometimes Sydney gets it right. Hanging out at Carrriageworks this week is one of those occasions where the Liveworks festival has the place jumping. The venue is vibrant with artists and audiences all eager to share, experience all that is on offer in this nine-year old, five day program. Liveworks 2024 subverts expectations via performance, dance, interactive installations and full-blown musical ensemble works. It’s Sydney go-to event for experimental arts and is ever more important as making arts becomes out of the reach of many as we juggle making a living and attracting audiences.
In the foyer of Carriageworks hangs an elegant (real) log suspended by yellow ropes. This log, it turns out, has been repurposed from the last production in Bay 17, Sydney Chamber Opera’s “Gilgamesh”. The performance starts in the foyer as audience members are invited to carry the log into the theatre space. It is gently lowered onto their shoulders and carried – like a coffin. The foyer has already become quite and focussed during this event, and we follow procession like into Bay 17. A massive white floor and backdrop serve as the canvas for the next part of the event. Lighting by Katie Sfetkidis is stark but not glaring. The natural colour of the log, its yellow ropes and green of performer Luke George’s shorts are a striking combination.
The 75 kg log is gently placed on the stage floor and Luke George proceeds to assemble the ropes and knots that will lift it and him high into the air over the next 40 minute or so.
In “Fell”, Luke George retraces his roots in Tasmania / lutruwita, recalling the impacts of the logging industry. The marketing blurb tells us that “in seeking a state of balance between himself and a log that is equal in weight to his body, George attempts to suspend the narrative of a human will to power so that other memories, including those of nature might also become sensible.”
From and SMH interview, “Most of my childhood and teens were spent in or around the bush,” he says. “I also grew up amidst the state’s logging, mining and energy industries that would clear-fell vast stretches of old-growth forests. We lived in communities where neighbours quite literally were on either side of the fence of environmental politics and practices.
“Tensions were high. So much was at stake. Yet somehow, people had to live and find a way to co-exist in this tough terrain and climate.”
“Fell” is performed without a soundtrack. It holds the audience in its thrall. As the log and human become suspended high in the cavernous space of Bay 17, Luke George leans back and both human and log are perfectly balanced. It is possibly dangerous but transcends such notions as the image resonates with reminders of ongoing struggles played out in areas threatened by logging. Importantly, it is a moment of respite, a utopian vision, a powerful plea for change. Utterly brilliant.
Kate Gaul
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