This footage was shot at the Ideal Home exhibition and then re-edited. I am still fascinated by the endless character of the swimmer's endeavour, something that connects to some of my earlier performance works exploring the nature of tasks, often domestic in character, which of necessity must be repeated time and time again.

The other aspect of this piece by which I am preoccupied is the design of the pool itself - shaped to enhance the artificially generated current against which the swimmer is pitted, it has a geological dimension to it and has I think subliminally influenced both the work I am now doing with sea bed mapping and also the architectural models that form part of the submersion series.

The approach of the crowd to the edge of the tank, conjurers up the image of a 19th century fairground attraction, featuring the 'maiden in the tank', or something similar.

Hellespont is the former name of the Dardanelles, the strait of water that separates Europe from Asia. Legend has it that Leander would swim across nightly to meet with his beloved Hero who would light a lamp at the top of her tower to guide his way. One night the wind blew out Hero's light and Leander was drowned. Hero threw herself from the tower in grief and died as well. The poet, Lord Byron became the first known person to swim the Hellespont in 1810.

This group of works follows on from a number of others: Avid Metamorphosis I and II, Shrinking the Miniature and Hidden Seas /Surface Waters, all of which touch upon the possibility of re-negotiating the limits of the body/self. Initially as way to deflect constructions of the female body as 'other' leading on to an exploration of the possibilities of ‘becoming’.

While Tails differs from those works featuring coastal environments, which precede and follow it, it demonstrates a similar concern with the question of boundaries.

In this instance I conceived of the idea of making myself into a swarm, a proposition that was realised through the use of a flying harness, along with blue screen video and compositing techniques - combining real time, embodied actions with virtual and digital representations.

A mixture that seems to support the paradox of simultaneously desiring to eradicate the limits of the social, physical, self and the anxieties to which such a loss of identity might give rise.

The above link * coonects to a related animation which allows the user to interact with the swarm by moving the central 'cursor', via their mouse (or equivalent), at different speeds. If the 'courtship' between user and swarm suceeds it triggers a shared sequence in which they dance together.

Residency and screening: Irish Musueum of Modern Art, Dublin. 1999

Exhibited Spacex, Exeter. 2003