Melati Suryodarmo’s ‘I’m a Ghost in My Own House’ 2012 is a 12-hour endurance performance piece in which the artist crushes and grinds hundreds of kilograms of charcoal briquettes into powder and dust. Suryodarmo trained in Butoh dance with choreographer Anzu Furukana and in long durational performance with artist Marina Abramović. She uses this physical training to give enormous energy to her performances, which employ movement and gestures to reflect on themes of alienation and belonging. As the performance proceeds, her white dress becomes increasingly grey with dust and the residue of the charcoal piles around her. Suryodarmo chose charcoal as a significant material, as its passage from tree, to wood, to charcoal and to dust, serves as a symbol of life’s energy, of a process of ‘liberation, catharsis and death’. After her performance, the charcoal dust and her once white dress exist as a residual presence in the gallery.

Follow the APT8 installation on our Flickr albums before the opening weekend on 21-22 November.

The Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT)
is the Gallery’s flagship exhibition focused on the work of Asia, the Pacific and Australia.
21 November 2015 – 10 April 2016

Exhibition Founding Sponsor: Queensland Government
Exhibition Principal Sponsor: Audi Australia
Supporter: Australia-Indonesia Institute
APT8 Major Partner: Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade