Desires 2015 - 2016

a year long performance

For one year Lottie Consalvo commited to do all the things she desired in an attempt to find happiness. We tell ourselves that when we have this or that or arrive here or there then we will be happy. For Lottie it was; when I lived on an island then I would be happy, if I spent more time in the garden then I would be happy, if I read more then I would be happy and the list went on. The artist listed all the things she often referred to in her mind as concepts of happiness. On landing in Paris , a city that many hold in their bank of desires, she embarked on living out ‘her’ desires. She planted seeds and bulbs in the Parisian gardens, at the bottom of a waterfall, through vineyards and in the field where Van Gogh allegedly shot himself. She cooked so much food that she had to give it away to people who lived on the streets. She read ferociously and went to yoga classes. She even went to live on an island for three months. Each day documenting with a number out of two how happy she was.

This performance was a futile attempt at finding this great place of ‘Contentment’ we place at the centre of our pursuits.