Ida Sophia -  

Black Box Theory (Live Performance Site Model)

Black Box Theory is a term used to describe “a thing that has no immediately apparent characteristics and therefore has only factors for consideration held within itself hidden from immediate observation.”

Designed to heighten the interplay between Artist input and Participator output, Black Box Theory is a Performance art site model conceived by artist, Ida Sophia. The model results in an experimental, co-created work.

At 2m X 2m X 2.4m, the black box site is tall and offers no windows. An Instax Fujifilm camera lens is the sole eye on the performance inside, offering the only way to observe it. As Ida performs, the outside participant/co-creator is instructed to:

Locate the shutter on the instax camera, take a breath.
When you *feel* it is the right moment, press down the shutter.
The instant image will eject. Watch it slowly develop to observe the performance.
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Walking with Your Absence, Durational Performance, 3 hours+
July 30 (Opening Night, SA LA LA LAND)

I lost my Father, Alister. I now prepare in his palpable absence for my wedding in 2021. 

A pivotal ceremony, the Marriage is traditionally a moment for a Father to give his daughter away to her future Husband. It must be noted; this role was born due to a Patriarchal history of ownership over daughters and the form of marriage a financial trade between families. However, I cannot ignore the modern context that parents hope to simply share this extraordinary moment with their child, and the palpable mourning felt in their absence.

This live performance work mourns his absence prior to the ceremony; acknowledging the acute grief and indeed, working to work through it. 

Ida Sophia’s artistic practise looks to ritualise moments of grief experienced in our modern life. ‘Walking With Your Absence’, 2020, is a live art performance staged within the Site/Sight Model conceived by the artist for Sa La La Land at Arthur ArtBar, 2020.

The Mourner of Buried Days, Durational Performance, 3 hours+
August 15th, 7-9pm, SA LA LA LAND

What is it to commit a loved one to the earth or fire? To feel that they belong with you, but must be unavoidably, physically buried elsewhere. 

Ida Sophia’s live performance explores a psychological, private process of burial for the memory of a loved one. Staged within Black Box Theory (A performance site model conceived by the artist for Sa La La Land at Arthur Artbar) this mode of exhibition highlights the social dynamic between private grief and public view in this work.

Ida Sophia’s artistic practise looks to ritualise moments of grief experienced in our modern life. ‘The Mourner of Buried Days’, 2020, is a live art performance that proposes a ritualised, private burial and seeks to understand through action, the effect of physical process on the grieving journey.

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ARTHUR - ART BAR
66 Currie Street
Adelaide, SA 5000