Maria Pask's work is about experience, about the physicality of 'doing'. In her videos she is both the actress, aware of the unwritten script, and the victim, forced to experience the necessary action. In Hot Stuff #1 and #2 we see Pask eating, first emptying a bottle of chilli sauce, then a jar of sambal and lastly, a pot of hot peppers. The camera is focused on her sitting behind a non-descript table, in an otherwise impersonal space. Action (i.e. the painful consumption of the spicy sauces) is central. Teaspoon by teaspoon, pepper after pepper she eats, the pain visibly augmentative. Predictably, unable to control the convulsions caused by the excess of hot stuff, she gags. And thus the theme of transgression in the artist's work becomes clear. In Pask's video works, A parallel with performances of the 60's and 70's whereby artists tested their own physical barriers can be drawn. But unlike the often dead serious performances of twenty years ago, Pask is willing to poke fun at herself and her idiosyncrasies. We, the viewers, are like voyeurs watching a play of black humour and irony. Simple curiosity holds our attention and makes us wonder: How far can one go, or, more specifically: how far can she go?
In Drill a woman (the artist), wearing a short black skirt, a crisp white blouse, With long legs and heavy healed boots, walks down an alley-way. We see her from behind. She picks up a workman's heavy drill, carries it back to a lose stone tile and begins to drill. Her strength, as a woman in charge, is obvious. The cumbersome tool, it's wrenching sound, opposes her sleek aloofness and takes on the character of an inept, yet willing male. The benign absurdity of this action makes the play of strength and power the viewer’s main consideration. These video pieces, and others, like Chainsaw, work as performances but in the 90's there is a different edge to the barriers being broken. The actions described here have been turned more inwards, are more individual; they have become less weighty, less didactic. There is no pretence of reaching a higher plain, there is no political message. She's done her part, further allegorical meaning or symbolic reference are left up to the viewer to fill in. The action is presented: no frills added, With a slap in the face and a fuck-it attitude. (MK)
– Maxine Kopsa
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