I welcome this opportunity to get to know you, stranger, 2018.

Collaborative performance by Sogol Mabadi and Emma Helen Reid for their two-person show, Encounter no. 1

I welcome this opportunity handcream and vinyl copy
I welcome this opportunity to get to know you, stranger, 2018 (title of performance on gallery wall along with the hand cream used in the performances)

I welcome this opportunity to get to know you, stranger 2018

A series of performances took place during July 2018 as part of Encounter no. 1
The performance included: Sogol Mabadi and Emma Helen Reid, four participants, six chairs, five basins of water, five pieces of soap, five towels, one tube of hand cream, five printed copies of a short story which Emma Helen Reid wrote for this performance.

Each performance was a closed event.
Two separate actions took place simultaneously and were repeated by participants.
Sogol Mabadi moved between participants, massaging their hands with hand cream.
Emma Helen Reid read a text that she had written for this performance.
The text was passed on and read aloud by each participant in turn.

3 chairs and 2 stools sit in a cluster in the exhibition space. The chairs have basins of water, soap, and a towel beside them. The stool at the back has pages of printed text resting on it.
I welcome this opportunity to get to know you, stranger, 2018 (performance set up within ‘Encounter no. 1’ exhibition)

An excerpt from the text read during the performance, written by Emma Helen Reid:

The camera is on so the screen shows what is beyond the lens. Sofia watches the world through the camera of her phone. Never recording, just seeing through the screen. She holds her vision in her hands and there is a fraction of delay on everything she sees. She is watching a section of denim stretched over her thigh. The crisp image of the diagonal weave follows the curve of her leg, emphasising her contours. Without warning, the image jumps and everything is a soft blur of colour instead. The lens is struggling to choose an auto focus point because a piece of thread is poking out through a seam. Sofia pulls at the thread and it doesn’t resist. It’s short, probably used to tack the pieces together. This little strand has been held in place throughout all the wearing and washing, she finds it strangely comforting.

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Next: Encounter no. 1, 2018