2019, Performance (1 h), Late at Tate, Tate Britain, London, UK
Room 1840 of Tate Britain is turned into an unconventional clock, where seconds and minutes are marked by flamenco steps and stomps. At the centre of the clock, two performers display a fluid interpretation of time, as the result of their inner lives, desires, and emotions. In contact but distant, in extreme proximity but not touching, one Too Early, the other Too Late. Except for a few fleeting moments, the hour they display is never exact.
The work reflects on queer love and the politics of visibility, exploring the tension between intimacy and public space. The performers’ desire to touch echoes the lived experience of many LGBTQIA+ people, for whom gestures of affection can remain acts of vulnerability or resistance, often expressed only in private because of the discrimination, stigma, and hostility they may face publicly. By presenting time as fluid rather than fixed, the work proposes queer temporality as a space for liberation, where love unfolds beyond normative expectations and prescribed timelines.
Hour displayed: 19:20 05/07/2019
Video documentation Part 1 (00:54 min)
Video documentation Part 2 (01:45 min)
Too Early to Love You, Too Late to Kiss You can be also described as a romantic encounter between two queer lovers that, for a matter of seconds, never happened.
Commissioned by Tate and Chelsea College of Arts, London
UPOs (Unidentified Performing Objects)
UPO (Too Early), 2019, Papier-mâché, aluminium, acrylics, polymer varnish, studs, 45x30x15cm each
UPO (Too Late), 2019, Papier-mâché, aluminium, acrylics, polymer varnish, studs, 40x20x18cm each
Curated by MA Curating Chelsea College of Art, coordinated by David Dibosa.
with: Connor Pelè Williams and Jack Wallace. Photography: Elena Romero Laguna, Hugo Lami.