130 Metres

The artist drew inspiration for 130 Metres – her second appearance at the City of Women festival – from
the ignition of a »beautiful long line of powder«. The journey of fire, which takes only few seconds,
results in a nice dull noise and a great deal of flame and smoke. In her performances, which due to the
nature of fire as a medium are increasingly performed in public areas, Robin developed her own explosive
techniques using detonation cord and appropriate safety measures. Her speciality is explosive cord
(with an effect not unlike that we have all seen in cartoons) – i.e. black powder in a plastic casing which
Robin then uses to build a structure that she refers to as »explosive safety armour« and is worn around
her body. Sometimes she produces special explosive confetti that produce nice clouds of smoke into
which she disappears, and reappears – just like a magician who makes people and things disappear…
and materialise once again.

Organized by: City of Women
In collaboration with: Cankarjev Dom, Galerija Škuc (Škuc Gallery)

Artists and collaborators
Gwendoline Robin