In silence and movement you can show the reflection of people, which takes its name from a quote by famed mime artist Marcel Marceau, Schwenk re-stages one of the most famous of all visual gags. Wearing bright yellow overalls with hardhats and suction pads, performers move large panes of non-existent glass back and forth among the milling crowds outside Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney.
Like walking against the wind or trapped in an invisible box this mime is so well known that it’s almost negated by its clichéd nature. Schwenk engages more than the recognition of a public audience of the conceit of the illusion, one that can only succeed through the assent of the audience, who became part of the performance. The audience started polishing the glass, some ran through sheets of glass smashing them into shards, while others simply joined in, and carried their own glass.
This work was performed as part of Art Month Sydney, 2010 and adapted for a performance at Brenda May Gallery, Sydney in 2011.