Where Body, Sculpture and Performance Intersect: Laura Banfield at MPavilion Parkville
Laura Banfield’s latest commissioned collaborative performance, titled ‘Extensions,’ involves the participation of 10 University of Melbourne students. This durational performance explores the body and materials in motion, using sculptural forms and materials as extensions of the body - tools for mapping the world and ways of being in it. The work was developed over a three-week program of experimentation and collaboration with students, culminating in a single evening performance. The sculptural and wearable pieces from the performance were also displayed in the pavilion over a three-day period.
An Anecdote
When I sit down for a drink with Laura, she alludes to an experience that spurred on recent creative developments… ‘I had this strange, uncanny, almost abject experience one day that I really felt, [it] made me really feel a jolt to my system.. I felt incredibly present in my body when I experienced this... And so I wanted to chase that feeling.’
It was in the aftermath of encountering a bodiless blackbird’s head on the ground, that Banfield began thinking about the body in a new way. Laura writes about this experience in her recent thesis. In some ways it is symbolic. The anecdote speaks to the fragility of life, how such fragility often catches us off guard. However the blackbird's head also becomes a literal case study… a study in the modular composition of the body itself, the way it can be broken down into ‘parts,’ and the possible aspiration toward a ‘whole-ness.’ Within a series of new sculptural assemblages, Banfield’s methodology began to deal with the often-unnerving experience of the body, when it is abstracted, modulated.
Artist’s history
Laura recalls that her interest in the body, dance, and performance goes back to years of training in ballet. After finishing high school, she began her undergraduate studies in fashion at RMIT. ‘Fortunately, studying the bachelor's degree at RMIT was a good place to do that because it has perhaps less, or at that time had less of a commercial focus on clothing specifically… I was opened up to work by the same line and Alexander McQueen who represent instead of strict runway shows, fashion performances, [addressing] the blurry line between art and fashion.’
She later completed her Honours degree in Fine Arts at VCA, where she developed her own performance practice. When I speak to Laura about this period, she highlights the importance of the community formed within the VCA stables. ‘When we had crits or when we were just talking to each other, people were really generous and we formed really close friendships so I feel like I have this kind of community of artists around me now that hopefully I'll have in many, many, many years to come.’ Banfield notes that her peers in the Honours program were just as important to the development of her work as her teachers. This created a more lateral form of learning, built on mutual support between students, which encouraged collaborative thinking and social responsiveness.
During this time, Laura brought together her knowledge of the body - through dance and fashion - into a more focused artistic voice. She is interested in what the body does, both in movement and stillness, as well as how it feels, and in finding new ways to explore and understand the fleeting nature of sensation. ‘I have an idea of a material or an action and I explore them together and that's my starting point. And that's kind of what we've been doing with these workshops.’
Laura reflects on the potential of the body in motion, particularly in relation to the world around it. In the first MPavilion Parkville workshop with students, she observes that the body is almost never not moving - in other words, it is always performing or engaged in action. These actions can be mundane, such as getting dressed in the morning or going to the shops. We are always involved in these movements, constantly dressing ourselves and attaching things to our bodies - extensions, often in the form of everyday clothing.
Laura is also interested in how these materials behave, especially when activated by movement. The relationship between the body and what it wears - two interdependent forces - creates endless possibilities and outcomes. Laura’s work explores how we understand and experience the world through different technologies and tools, or extensions - mapping the world while also experiencing it from within.
When I ask Laura about the nature of the workshops, and how she sees her role - as a teacher, curator, or director - she downplays her authority. ‘There's just something very particular about this group of people… I really feel like there is a sense of collaboration in there. I feel like it's not just me doing my artwork. You know what I mean? I feel like it's kind of growing [organically].’
Within this approach, the collective work of the students can also be understood as an extension of Banfield’s method and vision.
Stacey Collee is a visual artist based in Naarm/Melbourne, Australia. Working across a range of mediums, including painting and performance, she was the student producer on this project, led by Laura Banfield and presented in collaboration between MPavilion Parkville and the George Paton Gallery.
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