Fragile

“We are not as broken as we might believe” Dathan Horridge, Glimpse, 2020

Fragile is an online live performance art work that takes time to explore the fragility of the human mind. According to a survey carried out by NatCen Social Research, in collaboration with the University of Leicester, for NHS Digital, 1 in 4 people will experience mental health difficulties of some kind each year in England. The same study found that the overall number of people reporting mental health difficulties has increased in recent years.

The word fragile derives from the old Latin frangere, which means to break. A vase will be held until its weight can no longer be physically endured, at which point it will fall to the floor.

Vase, from the Latin vas, ,means “container”, or “vessel”. Human-like curves suggest the parallels of the containing function of the vase, with our own capacity to contain; to act as a vessel for our feelings, emotions and experiences and those of others.

This work takes place within the context of collective and personal experiences of trauma, loss, isolation and grief, resulting from a global pandemic. According to the charity Mind, more than half of adults (60%) and over two thirds of young people (68%) have reported increased difficulties with their mental health due to the current Covid 19 Pandemic.

Fragile explores the limits of our capacity to hold and contain and takes time to connect with the moment in which we let go.