Bek Coogan

Radical Fusion (2004)

14 min 43 secSingle channel / Digital Video / Colour / Sound

In Radical Fusion Coogan inserts classic motifs of 1970s performance art into the hedonistic urban ritual of a full moon drumming circle.

The work begins at nighttime, with the artist in grey overalls taking a white plinth out of a Massey University artists studio. She struggles to lift the unwieldy object onto a grass verge, picks it up again and carries it to her car. She rearranges her car boot to accomodate the plinth. She drives to Wellington bar the Southern Cross which is full of people and the PA system is loud. She takes the plinth through the bar and into the garden, where a furious drumming circle is in full force complete with dancers and a packed crowd. She sets the plinth down and begins drumming on it. People approach her, they talk to the artist, someone puts their drink on the plinth, the artist leaves and the plinth is incorporated into the drumming circle, and played by other people.

Other works by Bek Coogan

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