The Dig
Full Company
Exeter Phoenix (June 2000)
The Dig was commissioned by South
West Arts to mark to launch of the Year Of The Artist, it took as its
inspiration the
current and former uses of Exeter Phoenix, and the
context of the event. The resulting performance was both site-specific,
and suggestive
of the artist's process. The Dig took the form of seven hours worth of
excavations and interventions in and around Exeter Phoenix.
Four attributes of the site were identified as reference points for
the work:
• the original purpose of the building (the first
location of the University of Exeter)
• the presence of the Archaeological Field Unit (appropriately in the basement)
• the current usage of most of the building in its role as an Arts Centre
and café/bar (artistic creation & presentation, and
the consumption of food & drink)
• the housing of arts funding & administration bodies on the top
floors (South West Arts/Exeter Phoenix offices upstairs)
