The Incomplete Platypus

Based on the classic hit t.v. series 'To Tell The Truth' (1956), The Incomplete Platypus (2016) invites its audience to establish the authenticity of one artist among three, all claiming to be the real Artist of the Year. With the same conceit as the original game-show, the panel grills the artists on an autobiographical affidavit that recounts their courageous personal trials - in this case, that of an untethered imagination and the quest for creative autonomy. The game begins with the oration of a sworn account, detailing a series of perilous challenges and pata-physical events that barely stray from the studio, which from the beginning is shared with a rock that knows no bounds. Along the way the artist meets various anthropomorphic characters that she must slay her ties with. Composed of computer generated voices and appropriated sound, Shiel's synthetic narrative comes from a hole bored into the centre of a three-dimensional facade. Perforated to function as a speaker, it also serves to emulate the void made by the story’s rolling rock. The work’s standing wooden structure comes to represent time and distance by enlisting the freedoms of Alfred Jarry’s pataphysics - an imaginary realm imposed on metaphysics. Written by Sonia Shiel. Composed of synthetic and appropriated voices. Wood, Paint, Speakers and Sound // Dimensions variable c.17ft x 7ft x 4ft. Duration 00:19:49 // (mp3), looped.

The Affidavit