I caught the AGNSW Art Bus in early 2013 – visiting a number of Sydney galleries, the last stop on route was Peleton. Exhibited, was a video/sound work and photographic prints by Kusum Normoyle entitled, Accord with Air: Tjentište (2012), which features Normoyle performing alongside the Tjentište monument in the Sutjeska National Park in Eastern Bosnia-Herzegovina. It’s a compelling piece of work that also struck a chord with me, as the Tito commissioned monument designed by sculptor Miodrag Živković is not that far from where some of my family originates.

Kusum’s performative style is incisive, extreme, abrasive and primal. Armed with a microphone and amplifier and using her physique – kicking, contorting and throwing her body on the ground; she creates loud, often public or architecturally/site specific performances. Normoyle’s work utilises extreme voice, audio feedback and the body’s relationship to materials and environment through these means for both performance and installation.

She is currently a PhD candidate at UNSW Art and Design under the supervision of Douglas Kahn and is an active member of the Sound and Materials Research Group at UNSW Art and Design.

Her work has been included in numerous exhibitions, festivals and events including Dark Mofo 2015, Primavera: Young Australian Artists, MCA Sydney 2013, ISSUE Project Room NYC, Superdeluxe at Artspace for the 17th Biennale of Sydney, Liquid Architecture AU, the NOWnow AU, N.K Berlin, UrBANGUILD JPN, Lines of Flight Festival NZ, and Dogodek: The Event, 29th Biennial of Graphic Art, Slovenia.

The video Accord with Air: Tjentište (2012) will be one of 5 projections in Monumentalism. The exhibition opens at Kudos Gallery on Tuesday the 8th of November from 5-7pm. Kusum Normoyle will be performing a new iteration of this performance at 6pm.