A PERFORMANCE artist was yesterday looking forward to spending his eighth day wrapped in clingfilm in a Devon field trying to be an earthworm.
Paul Hurley’s incarnation as a worm is the latest in a series of performances called Becomings Invertebrate. In previous performances he coated himself in KY Jelly to become a slug, and while dressed as a snail he spent two hours “licking the inside of a greenhouse”.
For Becoming Earthworm, Mr Hurley donned swimming goggles to protect his eyes and a pair of trunks to protect his modesty, then slithered across the grass and into a muddy water-filled hole.
Mr Hurley, 25 and single, spent an hour and a half in the 3ft by 2ft deep hole burrowing, “cleaning” the soil and creating worm casts out of red earth. He paused only to take a quick nibble on the odd leaf or two for sustenance.
Mr Hurley, who will end his stint as a worm tomorrow after nine days, said: “I have done a private viewing of Becoming Earthworm and I did eat some earth then, but only a few spoonfuls. I couldn’t do it for nine days. There are some things I wouldn’t do in the name of art.”
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The artist, from Cardiff, said the changeable weather had allowed him to explore all aspects of worm experience.
He added: “This is the latest in an ongoing series of Becomings Invertebrate which investigates our ideas of humanness and animalness at the points where the two converge.
“It’s an exploration of the earth and dirtiness. It has been sunny, but it was quite wet today. It’s good though, because it means I can experience the different elements of nature.”
Mr Hurley’s performances at Rocombe Farm near Stokeinteignhead has bemused visitors, particularly as, in keeping with his character, he refuses to speak. He said: “People look at me and wonder what on earth I am doing. Children do try and talk to you and it is difficult not to reply, but teachers normally point out to them that earthworms don’t talk.
“My parents are very supportive as they know it’s something I believe in.”
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Mr Hurley is one of 50 artists who have come together for a contemporary art event called the Art Farm Project. Barns and outbuildings at the farm have all been transformed into a venue for displaying visual art. The former slurry store has become a gallery for paintings while other buildings are filled with prints, sculpture, ceramics and photography. Outside in the fields and farmyard are more sculptures and other exhibits.
Meanwhile Mr Hurley, who has previously experienced life as a dog and a rabbit, is preparing for his next incarnation in Cardiff. He said: “I am going to be an insect next, but I haven’t decided which.” In an introduction to his performance on the internet, Mr Hurley writes: “Over the duration of the Art Farm Project I will be making a new piece of work entitled ‘becoming-earthworm’ a performance/installation in big muddy holes at the bottom of the meadow.
“I will be inhabiting the holes at various points throughout the week in an effort to become-earthworm, performing actions and characteristics of the creature and experiencing a new connection with the soil and the earth itself.”
DEBATE
Is the earthworm art?
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