Mike Parr
Under­neath the Bitu­men the Artist

This work was con­ceived to memo­ri­alise the vic­tims of twen­ti­eth cen­tu­ry total­i­tar­i­an vio­lence in all of its ide­o­log­i­cal forms, includ­ing the shad­ow cast by the geno­ci­dal vio­lence of nine­teenth cen­tu­ry British colo­nial­ism in Australia.

The pub­lic will be able to wit­ness the artist’s ​‘dis­ap­pear­ance’ under the road, but fol­low­ing the entomb­ment, the road will be returned to famil­iar use.

When the artist exits the con­tain­er at the con­clu­sion of the per­for­mance, con­crete will be poured to fuse the cham­ber and its con­tents as a time cap­sule instat­ed for future generations.

This will be the artist’s third and final per­for­mance at Dark Mofo.