Habitat, performance and installation, 2003.

 

Talking to a friend about her experience as a mountain climber, she told how she had to spend the night on the top of a very high mountain,
with very little space to sleep, having to stay aware all the time during her sleep, not to fall from the edge of the mountain.

 

Habitat is a performance and installation about the risks that artists have to take in order to realise their works. It also makes a parallel between the lives
of artists and animals, and how frequently they are the subject of unwanted exposure to the human curiosity.

 

During a period of ten nights, I sleep in the trunk of an oak tree installed 5 metres high in the walls of my studio. Under the tree there is a mountain of hay
to protect me from falling during my sleep. The studio is open to visitors while I sleep during the night, and everyday I remove some of the hay, making the mountain progressively smaller, until the last day, there is no hay remaining under the tree, increasing the risk in case I fall during my sleep.

 

© Frederico Câmara 2003