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Video 6
Anthea Moys
Gautrain Series: Ophelia, 2008
Gautrain Series: Tunnel Shout, 2008

“I am interested in the idea of ‘play’ as an act, which operates in a potential or transitional space. Through this interest, which can be seen as an underlying factor in my work, I create and direct situations, which involve performance and participation. From performer to editor to public game designer, I take on various roles so as to extend my idea/action to the audience. My work is basically a continuous exploration into the relationships between play and performance, usually enacted in the public domain. I am also interested in notions of the ‘pathetic’ or ‘useless’ and the juxtaposition of these notions to ideas of urgency, goal orientation and determinism. My works are created in and inspired by the tension that lies between experiment and safety.

For me, public space, simply put, is a space where I can test out numerous possibilities in order to find a means of expression through action. Sometimes I create all the instructions for my performances, but then invite others into my domain where I would like a collaborative act or ‘event’ to take place.”

In the work, Gautrain: Ophelia, Moys is referring, though obliquely, to John Everett Millais’ Ophelia (1851-2). Performed at a Gautrain (underground railway system) construction site in Johannesburg inner city she investigates ideas of the ‘ in between’, which speaks of these transitional sites as spaces of potential.

Anthea Moys was born and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa. She has recently completed her Masters degree in Fine Art, her focus being the enactment of play within performance in the public domain. Her interest in performance began in 2005 with The Trolley Project. She predominantly works in the mediums of performance and video. Interested in the idea of ‘play’ as an under-riding factor in her work, she explores this through constructing various performative and sometimes collaborative ‘situations’ in the public domain. In December 2005 she went to Switzerland where she took part in the MAPS (Masters of Arts in the Public Sphere) program for eight months. During her stay there her interest in performance grew and since she has been back she has been involved in numerous group shows in South Africa and abroad. She has held several ‘play, performance and public space’ workshops at Wits, Funda Community College and University of Johannesburg. She has also co-managed and curated several events and exhibitions such as Kazoo – It’s a live art thing in 2006 and Have City Will Play, 2007. Currently, she is participating in the Urban Concerns project as well as creating several performances in the public domain for the Newtown Women in Arts Festival 2008.

Keywords: Anthea Moys, David-Krut, Film, International, South-African