Hamish McIntosh - Like a Knife, the Horizon

"All my life I’ve lived with a future which constantly diminishes but never vanishes."—Mark Doty

Like a Knife, the Horizon was an extended durational performance for four dancers. Tasked with running a static marathon on treadmills, the cast attempted to reach a horizon between them over five hours. Performed at Temperance Hall for the Midsumma Festival 2023, this hybrid installation work positioned itself at the intersection of contemporary Pride discourse and antisocial politics. With sweaty brows lit by LED work lights, the dancers dressed as cute animals in honour of the brand-friendliness that Pride often demands. Reflecting on the relationship between queerness and death, particularly the way in which the HIV/AIDS crisis transformed our understanding of futurity, in this work, Hamish McIntosh further sought to relate an accessible gesture of exhaustion (a marathon) to queer corporeality. By running towards an impossible meeting point, McIntosh invited reflections on the linkages between obliteration and queerness.

Hamish McIntosh's work is a reminder that being okay, being happy, believing in a future, isn't a realistic or helpful goal - for me, for many in our community. His work witnesses and validates my experience, an experience that I know is quite mild by some standards. Proving once again that the simplest ideas are the fullest ideas, Hamish and his collaborators have made something very sad, very comforting, very open. After the race, it is time to rest, maybe forever.—Tom Gittings

Commissioned By: Temperance Hall | Generously Supported By: Fitness to You | Season: February 2023, Temperance Hall, Melbourne | Performers: Zorp, Valentina, Isabel Estrella, and Hamish McIntosh | Technical Production: Rosie Excess | Programming: Anna McDermott | Auspicing: Martha Latham (Auspicious Arts Projects)