Bruno Booth

I stain, you strain, we all strain.

A new work produced for the group exhibition Low Stakes curated by Dan McCabe and presented at Goolugatup Heathcote in 2024.

Essay
The creep. Excruciating, maddening, interminable. Humidifying in a weak polyester cage whilst paying an unknown and unknowable series of dues: one — stroke — at — a — time. Clicking through what was meant to be a life without even approaching the starting point. 20 minutes more before a view. Can anything relieve the manufactured torsion, the body tension, the bloody boredom. Anything? A view, however small and humble, attrites the hardening of spirit the triple 8’s create. And still my 20 minutes. A vacation. A distraction. A life.

The rising prevalence of sedentary lifestyles and their negative impacts on health, happiness and longevity is well known. Researchers are now encouraging people to move every 20 minutes to increase circulation and reduce blood sugar levels. Put down the Twix, go touch some grass.