let me take your weight ~ can I lean on you today? ~ is that okay?

FORGED (in the tender heat of your embrace) is a durational performance installation for gallery spaces and a temporary site for collective rest which holds the live archive of an ongoing choreographic collaboration between artist Laura Fisher and seven sheets of copper metal. Drawing parallels between the material properties of the sheet metal and the artist’s body which experiences chronic pain, the collaboration utilises body heat to create an intimate relationship of interdependency. Through cycles of moving and resting together, body and metal shift in supportive relation to one another from which sculptural forms gradually emerge and change.

The search for a shared movement language between material and human is echoed in the integration of live audio description by guest artists – whose words, observations and narration become a third dancer in the performance. An evolving archive, FORGED responds to each new site it is presented within, working with local guest artist to create a new interpretation of the Audio Description each time, adding to the archive of voices, bodies and perspectives that make up the work.

close your eyes ~ rest your head ~ lay your tired body down

FORGED is one durational performance split into 4 chapters.

Within a soft sculptural environment designed by Zephyr Liddell, audiences are given permission to rest and drift between the senses. Disrupting sight as the dominant sensory engagement within gallery spaces, FORGED invites tactile interactions between material and bodies to consider the complicated relationship around care, power, illness and intimacy that often exists for disabled people.

Access notes | Performance: The performance creatively integrates audio description, which is delivered live and amplified in the space. Audience can come and go, or move around as they need.

There is a range of different seating options for audience, including mats, cushions, bean bags, chairs, benches and stools, plus standing space.

Access notes | Installation: The Audio Archive & Audio Descriptions of the Installation space are available on MP3 players. Visitors can also bring their smartphone and headphones to access the audio.