Alexandrite Performance, Sunday 11 April 2010 – Tessa Lynch has been in residence at the Edinburgh International Climbing Arena (EICA) at Ratho working on her project Alexandrite, produced by Collective. Alexandrite will commence with a one-off performance at EICA, on Sunday 11 April followed by an exhibition at Collective from 13 April to 23 May 2010.
Tessa’s performance acts out the dual qualities of the diamond Alexandrite, a diamond which shines green in daylight and red in incandescent light, a naturally formed element that has the ability to be two things at once. This idea is explored in various ways throughout the performance and looks specifically at the duality in the works of the Dada artist Francis Picabia by recalling his 1924 ballet, Relâche.
The performance has been devised through a series of workshops run by the artist and attended by the performers. The performers are made up of the EICA audience and Collective’s audience who all contributed to the creative process of the work.
EICA is the world’s largest climbing arena, built against the backdrop of a sheer quarry rock face amongst the hills of Ratho and in-keeping with the natural world outside. The EICA has inspired Tessa to devise this performance using the space as an enormous theatrical backdrop. – Words by Collective
Download accompanying text here – Getting along, keeping moving by Rosalie Doubal