The Digging in and the Climbing out, 1982: ACT 3, Canberra

Jill Orr

Performance event for ACT 3. Canberra, 1982

I was living in Amsterdam at the time and returned to Australia briefly to perform this work.

I embraced the celebratory nature of home coming;

answering the call of family, friends, the scent of eucalyptus and the unique earth of my familiar.

I imagined that I was travelling through the centre of the earth to arrive in Australia emerging from the hole I dug.

I was pulled through to the energies of home.

The performance was a meditation through running and fire building to finally invite the audience to share mulled wine with me created that I brewed from an early Dutch recipe. The subtle thread of this work has remained unspoken till now.

Through out the performance my friend in Amsterdam and I timed our meditation on each other to begin half an hour before sunset.

My initial run was painful and arduous but with a sudden burst of joy the connection was felt.

My friend and I were flowing through the centre of earth and heart.

A small gesture over a large terrain was The Digging in and the Climbing out.