PERFORMANCE
Run (from Northworks), Midil Beach, Darwin, 1977.
From 1977-1978, Paul Hay was based in Darwin in Northern Australia where he established Northworks. Northworks was as an umbrella for conceptual art projects that included performance, sound works and installation. Run was an early endurance piece where Hay ran until exhausted.
Splash (from Northworks), Fannie Bay, Darwin, 1977.
Splash is one of a number of action pieces hay performed in Darwin. They were mostly based on procedures or written instructions and had no function other than to be performed. Sequences of actions could take several hours and most were discarded.
Dreaming (from Northworks), Fannie Bay, Darwin, 1977.
Dreaming was a work that took place in several locations. Hay's dreams were written and buried. Ephemeral marks were drawn to indicate their location.
Counting (from Northworks), Fannie Bay, Darwin, 1977.
As part of a series of works on early learning of elemental systems of understanding. Other works included Spelling, Tapping, Catching and Singing.
Quarry Monitor (from Northworks). Performance and sound work, Berrimah, Darwin and Experimental Art Foundation, Adelaide, 1977.
Quarry Monitor was performed by twenty people who responded to an aleatoric score by throwing large stones into a disused quarry. The acoustics in the quarry had very little spatial decay and the sounds of rocks hitting water was naturally amplified. The work was performed to an audience of around eighty people and fourteen dogs.
Invitation to a Beheading,(with Leigh Hobba), Experimental Art Foundation, Adelaide, 1976.
This work was based in an aleatoric score and performed by Paul Hay and Leigh Hobba over ten hours. The work consisted of a constantly changing installation, tape loops, live and recorded sound, action and video and was determined by the score and an open-ended interpretation of the space and its acoustics.
Anonymity, Teringie, Adelaide, 1976. Performance in three parts: Stocking Head, Adelaide, Anonymity 1, Barossa Valley and Anonymity 2, Teringie.
Anonymity was based on a trip through New South Wales and Western Australia where Hay visited alternative lifestyle communities. Anonymity was a reaction to idealism, futility and the orthodoxy of the counter culture at that time.