Still Lives
Still Lives is a performance-installation series by Daniel Kok & Luke George that captures (with ropes) significant moments or movements in relation to specific cultural contexts. Each edition of Still Lives is a durational, site-responsive, and context-specific process of binding cultural objects in their place. This approach allows new conversations to emerge and unveils narratives about local history, political tensions, social connections, and personal attachments.
So far, the series has included:
Still Lives: Melbourne
Presented at the National Gallery of Victoria for Rising Festival 2022 in Melbourne, Australia, this performance transformed five Australian Rules players into living sculptures. They re-created a spectacular mark by footy legend and proud Noongar man Andrew Krakouer as a suspended tableau. As spectators gathered during the festival, the powerful influence of football on Melbourne’s cultural life was interrogated.
Still Lives: Auckland
Presented by the F.O.L.A. in 2024 in Auckland, New Zealand, this performance took place in the Town Hall of Tāmaki Makaurau. Eight female rugby players were bound together to re-create one half of an interlocking scrum. Through the intricate negotiation between bodies, urgent issues such as sexism, racism, homophobia, and transphobia within sporting culture were revealed.
Still Lives: Fremantle
Presented by the Fremantle Biennale 2023 SIGNALS in Fremantle, Australia, this iteration of Still Lives drew on maritime history and the narratives of imprisonment at a key Australian naval port. A bugle player was suspended between the masts of a 130-year-old pearl lugger as it sailed towards Walyalup/Fremantle from Wadjemup/Rottnest Island. As the ship entered the Fremantle Fishing Boat Harbour at sunset, the bugler performed The Last Post—an international anthem for remembrance and rest.
Still Lives: Florence
Presented by Fabbrica Europa Festival 2023 in Florence, Italy, this iteration of Still Lives reimagined Giambologna’s “Rape of the Sabine Women.” Three queer-identified Italian performers breathed new life into the classic narrative within the historic ambiance of a Florence discotheque, challenging conventions while celebrating diverse identities.
Still Lives: Venice
Presented by La Biennale di Venezia, Biennale Danza, 2019 – Venice, Italy, this iteration of Still Lives transformed a gondola and its gondolier into a living artwork. Bound together with 1 km of locally made jute rope—a material deeply tied to Venice’s maritime heritage—this durational performance-installation celebrated the city’s historic relationship with water and craft. Once produced at the Arsenale, the rope served as a tangible link to Venice’s naval past. Staged in a public square on Via Garibaldi, in front of the Giuseppe Garibaldi Monument, the piece invited audiences to experience the enduring dialogue between tradition, materiality, and the spirit of Venice.
So far, the series has included:
Still Lives: Melbourne
Presented at the National Gallery of Victoria for Rising Festival 2022 in Melbourne, Australia, this performance transformed five Australian Rules players into living sculptures. They re-created a spectacular mark by footy legend and proud Noongar man Andrew Krakouer as a suspended tableau. As spectators gathered during the festival, the powerful influence of football on Melbourne’s cultural life was interrogated.
Still Lives: Auckland
Presented by the F.O.L.A. in 2024 in Auckland, New Zealand, this performance took place in the Town Hall of Tāmaki Makaurau. Eight female rugby players were bound together to re-create one half of an interlocking scrum. Through the intricate negotiation between bodies, urgent issues such as sexism, racism, homophobia, and transphobia within sporting culture were revealed.
Still Lives: Fremantle
Presented by the Fremantle Biennale 2023 SIGNALS in Fremantle, Australia, this iteration of Still Lives drew on maritime history and the narratives of imprisonment at a key Australian naval port. A bugle player was suspended between the masts of a 130-year-old pearl lugger as it sailed towards Walyalup/Fremantle from Wadjemup/Rottnest Island. As the ship entered the Fremantle Fishing Boat Harbour at sunset, the bugler performed The Last Post—an international anthem for remembrance and rest.
Still Lives: Florence
Presented by Fabbrica Europa Festival 2023 in Florence, Italy, this iteration of Still Lives reimagined Giambologna’s “Rape of the Sabine Women.” Three queer-identified Italian performers breathed new life into the classic narrative within the historic ambiance of a Florence discotheque, challenging conventions while celebrating diverse identities.
Still Lives: Venice
Presented by La Biennale di Venezia, Biennale Danza, 2019 – Venice, Italy, this iteration of Still Lives transformed a gondola and its gondolier into a living artwork. Bound together with 1 km of locally made jute rope—a material deeply tied to Venice’s maritime heritage—this durational performance-installation celebrated the city’s historic relationship with water and craft. Once produced at the Arsenale, the rope served as a tangible link to Venice’s naval past. Staged in a public square on Via Garibaldi, in front of the Giuseppe Garibaldi Monument, the piece invited audiences to experience the enduring dialogue between tradition, materiality, and the spirit of Venice.
CREDITS
Artists:
Luke George and Daniel Kok
With various collaborators and participants across the series and locations
Distribution
Something Great
In the year 2022, “Still Lives” was recipient of two Green Room Awards (Melbourne, Australia) - Contemporary & Experimental Performance: Outstanding Achievement + Design & Technical Achievement
Still Lives: Melbourne was featured by ABC TV in 2022.
Watch the ABC TV Cover