Hole for Mofo’s road man ready

WORKERS have buried a steel box under Hobart’s busiest street in preparation for one of Dark Mofo’s most provocative artworks. [WATCH THE VIDEO]

WORKERS have buried a steel box under Hobart’s busiest street in preparation for one of Dark Mofo’s most provocative artworks.

Macquarie St was closed for several hours last night as a hole was dug to hold the accommodation for performance artist Mike Parr’s work Underneath the Bitumen The Artist.

Parr will be entombed for 72 hours under Macquarie St in mid-June as part of Dark Mofo.

The road will be closed for several hours each time, which is expected to cause major traffic disruption.

The work is intended in part to “memorialise the victims of twentieth century totalitarian violence in all of its ideological forms, including the shadow cast by the genocidal violence of nineteenth century British colonialism in Australia”.

Performance curator Jarrod Rawlins said the early response to the announcement of the work reflected some of the expected anxiety about seeing a 72-year-old man buried under a city street.

“I think people are excited, and curious more than anything at the moment,” he said.

“I think maybe people would [be] trying to picture themselves in a box underneath the road and what that means with them.”

Parr will take items including a book, a sketchpad, a stool and mattress into the 4.5m x 1.7m x 2.2m container for the duration of the performance.

And he will have earplugs to minimise the noise of traffic passing above him.

The box will be connected to the outside world only by a tube feeding fresh air inside and an emergency button to summon help.

He will leave everything behind as he exits the box, which will then be entombed in concrete below the road forever.

Mike Parr’s previous works have included fasting in a glass cage for 10 days, having his lips sewn together and spending 30 hours blindfolded with his right arm nailed to a wall. Picture: BRITTA CAMPION/THE AUSTRALIAN

Mr Rawlins said the vast majority of the performance would be unseen.

“We don’t know what’s going happen. All we do is make sure things are safe. Our main role is making sure that all of the safety procedures for everyone — the artist and the audience — is safe. The rest, being performance art, just happens.”

In a rare interview, with the Weekend Australian, Parr said Hobart was the right place for the work — which was knocked back by two other cities.

“Maybe that’s why I love Tasmania so much. I don’t think you’d get away with this anywhere else,” he said.

His previous works have included fasting in a glass cage for 10 days, having his lips sewn together and spending 30 hours blindfolded with his right arm nailed to a wall.

The performance will run from Thursday June 14 to Sunday June 17 and will cost Mona, Dark Mofo, and Detached Cultural Organisation $150,000. None of the expense will be born by taxpayers or Hobart ratepayers.

Macquarie St will be closed for several hours each time as the artist enters and exits the container.

Hobart Lord Mayor Ron Christie said he was concerned about the effect the performance would have on city traffic

“I’m a supporter of Dark Mofo and the enormous contribution it makes to our tourism industry — it brings so many interstate and overseas visitors to Hobart and really livens up our winter.

“But I voted against it. My argument was traffic. We’ve been hit pretty hard with traffic problems, then the flooding and winds — I’m waiting for the fire and pestilence.

“At that time of night our traffic officers say there will be around 850 vehicles an hour and I’m concerned about the diversions and where the traffic is going.”

Early commentary on the work was mixed on the Mercury’s Facebook page, Sallyn David Roberts’ declared, “I thought Mofo was about art. It’s turning into stupidity”.

And Benjamin Poprawski wrote: “So Hobart congestion is some of the worst in Australia, so let’s dig up the centre lane of one of the busiest streets, seal for three days, then do it over again just so this guy can be buried alive for an art piece? Seriously?”