Project George (1998)

The High Street Project, Christchurch, New Zealand

Project George was a synthesis of durational performance, improvised storytelling and noir thriller, staged over several weeks at The High Street Project in Christchurch. The work inverted conventional dramaturgy by treating an impending live event as though it had already occurred, much like reading a crime novel from the end to the beginning without knowing it. Participants were invited to make something happen by trying to establish what had already taken place.

Six principal international collaborators: Marcia Farquhar, Dorian McFarland, Stuart Mayes, Jem Finer, Thierry Malard and Moritz Weidemann — each conducted their own investigation months before the event, unaware of one another’s involvement. By the time the gallery was transformed into a functional investigation office, the project had expanded into an international network of speculation. A secretary was hired, daily intelligence was tracked, and the gallery operated as a public briefing room where visitors were interviewed and updated on unfolding developments.

What followed blurred fact and fiction beyond recovery. Reports circulated of Jamaicans and British agents infiltrating the network, of blackmail threats, and of surveillance operations on suburban streets. The Ministry of Agriculture searched the premises and confiscated parcels of Irish grass seed, only for a cubic metre of dirt to later be dumped in the office. Anonymous French operatives issued instructions while dressed in red suits with frog feet. A dance party was promoted from Germany to take place inside the office itself. Letters, threats, and fabricated evidence flooded the investigation.

The project concluded in chaos when the office was broken into and vandalised on the final night. Scrawled across the wall in red spray paint were the words: “It’s all fun and games until someone loses an eye.”