Song for Armageddon (2017)
4k video installation, 51.00 mins,
commissioned by Forma, London and University of Salford Art Collection in association with BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art.

A hellish sodium-lit environment provides the setting for 'Song for Armageddon' which was shot on location at Tel Megiddo, Israel. Tel Megiddo is a UNESCO-listed archaeological site and is most famous for being the site in the Bible where the final battle between good and evil is predicted to take place. In English language usage the word 'Armageddon' has lent its name to the end of the world, an event that is going to happen. Song for Armageddon engages with Tel Megiddo’s remarkable heritage but also elaborates on a confusion between place and event. In an age of nationalist populism and climate change, with globalisation and wars racking the globe, this work is a chance to return to the source of ‘end times’ iconography. Armageddon is a nexus of metaphysics and geopolitics.’

Over a repeating 24 hour period, a group of workers set out and wipe down thousands of chairs to create a large auditorium for an unknown audience. The idea of preparing for a cataclysmic event that is yet to happen hangs over the actions of the crew of workers tasked with preparing the site. The work invites the viewer to speculate upon the event that is to take place and upon their own relationship to ideas around endings and disaster. The accompanying soundtrack was composed by Ophir Ilzetzki.

Previously presented at BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead; Glasgow Cathedral, Glasgow and Art Gallery at CSI, Statten Island, New York.