• + Send a Postcard
• + Add to Collection
• + Share this work

A metal housing for an electric, outdoor light was filled with shredded office paper, ignited, and held aloft at various locations in downtown Halifax, during the NOCTURNE Art Festival. The series of ignitions/illuminations was improvised at the last minute due to the cancellation of a more interactive work. That piece was meant for the interior of an abandoned building that had been made inaccessible just hours earlier.



(photo by Ege Edener)

In spite of the simplicity and quiet nature of the piece, public response was much stronger than is usually the case with my performances. Hecklers abounded, and at one point a playful spectator snatched my bag of office paper/fuel to the delight of his comrades. An off-duty fireman ("Nick," wherever and whoever you are) expressed concern about the piece and even directed foot traffic on the corner of Sackville and Barrington Streets, in the interest of preventing an accidental fire from the lamp's fallout.

Artist

Portrait of Stephen Rife
Our House
Underground
The Serpent's Egg
Demonstration w/non-dairy creamer
The Anxious Substrate
Demonstration with Ladder and Flammable Dust
Lantern
Performance w/handheld mortar
Firebreathing
Fire Vortex Prototype
Demonstration w/Plant Matter & Lawn Tools
Song of Late Summer
Fireshovel
Fireshovel (detail)
Ritual Burning of Fireshovel Comments
Gravedance (prep)
Gravedance
Secrets of the Nest
Firebag prototype
To Burn, Not Bury
New Year's Gate
The Battle for St. Paul
Raindial
Firebag Demonstration w/Gerb
Firedance prep.
Firedance
Firedance (spinning)
The Book of Life
Fire display w/paraffin, paper & welding gas
Horseplay
New Year's Eve Lampshade
Offering to Stromboli
Autumn Fire Rite with Pinedust
Autumn Fire Rite with Pinedust
Firefilm
Fireball
Fireball (detail)
Wax Paper Juggling
Demonstration with Steel Wool and Headpiece
Firebasket Demonstration
Firebasket Detail
Firebox Demonstration
Street performance w/firecans & mower
FIRE WALL AND WATER BASIN (jury selection)
Smoking Word
Smoking Word (participants)
The Tree of Light
Flint Dance
Fire Shovel
Sunflower (test)
Flame Relay in Cracks
The Ice Knife
The Ice Knife (detail)
The Darshanty
Thanksgiving Prelude
Launch
Carbonera
Smell Piece
Entry
Partial Document of Performance
Monofilm (installation before ignition)
Monofilm (fire stage)
Roman Signer Tribute
David
Streetlamp
Reprise: Signer's Suitcase
Yves Klein Tribute: Return of the Sun
Projection