I tell myself not to worry about the drooping smile that trickles down my face as I wash off my residual afterglow. It mixes with the warm water and streams of beige pool in the drain. What’s left is blemished, taut and pink. I anchor my hands to my cheeks; only for a moment before I release.

There is a separation between this lived reality and this embodied one. I stand here between them, within this space that borders both conditions.

Movement in the tile catches my glance and I follow the reflection to the floor. Where I’m gathered in this alchemy of objects. I lay with them and in sedate, quiet slouches —One, two, three and hold.

I can feel my chest compress against the floor from the weight of my body, there’s an edge to my inhalation. What’s dry erodes away. Its constraint releases as I sigh to a whisper: «again».

What is it like to be here on the floor?

Alice Darby er en kunstner basert i Oslo som kretser rundt skeivhet, ulike temporale rytmer, kropper, rommene de bebor og kunstobjektenes performative potensialer. Hun sammenstiller kroppslig dysmorfi / dysfori / hverdagsligheten i demontering og sine kosmetiske elementer. Disse flyter sammen og legemliggjør minne både som fiktive og selvbiografiske fortellinger. De smelter sammen for å aktivere intimitet og fremmedgjøring, og blir til hallusinatoriske kroppslandskap.