performances
Night 1001 (2023)
Night 1001 is an exhibition and live restaging of the last night of Barbara Campbell’s durational performance 1001 nights cast (2005–2008), a project that saw her telling a new story live and online at sunset every night for 1001 consecutive nights.

Model the Model (2022)
Model the Model proceeds as a series of five, five-minute poses, as in a life-model drawing class.

Cries from the Tower (1992–2021)
In the original 1992 of this work, Campbell positioned herself well above the audience – as a remote figure in time and space.

Cloche (2018–2019)
I don’t know where the scissors came from, and at first I don’t read what they are for, but her eyes have engaged the monitor.

Hide (2017)
Combining architecture and costume, Hide invites participants to step into a one-person bird hide before releasing themselves back into the natural environment.

Galatea (1996–2014)
Galatea refocuses the audience’s attention on the ability of the central female character of the Pygmalion myth, Galatea, to shape herself to the desires of her audience and through this, to gain authenticity.

call, recall, respond (2010)
Few birds were actually seen during call, recall, respond, but their affect was everywhere among the humans.

Farewell to Meng Haoran at Yellow Crane Tower by Li Bai (2010)
The starting point for my project was a T’ang Dynasty poem by Li Bai that I often carry around with me in the form of Chinese calligraphy printed on a canvas tote bag.

1001 nights cast (2005–2008)
In her durational performance, 1001 nights cast, Barbara Campbell cast a story into the ether every night for 1001 nights via a dedicated website.

The Grimwade Effect (2003–2004)
Leeches are both performers and artisans in The Grimwade Effect performance.

Remanence (2000–2002)
The artist projects her film on the side of the building, and solid matter becomes liquid, begins to move.

Inflorescent (1999–2002)
Taking refuge from a blazing sunny day, it took some time to adjust our eyes to the dim light inside the Macleay Museum.

The Midday Movie and the History of Australian Painting (1997–2002)
A woman (I know to be Barbara Campbell) is lying on a blue carpet extending the length of the studio next to which I work.

Sécateur (2001)
I remember that it took place at dusk.

The Machine, oiled again (2001)
Above an illuminated sewing machine the naked, oiled body of a woman lies motionless on a table, her rear view facing the audience.

The Seduction of Art (1982–1998)
The artist narrates an early memory of being taken, as an impressionable 13 year old, by her maiden aunt to view Blue Poles on display at Brisbane City Hall.

Fresh Glories (1997)
In this series of performances and exhibits, two sets of portraits were made during an eight day sitting period of Australia’s Federal Parliament.

Lozenge (1997)
Lozenge is both an aural and physical recovery of multiple stories of loss made during the artist’s four-week residency at Griffith Artworks.

Zero Hour (1996)
Zero Hour is a contemporary reconstruction of a 1944 broadcast of the same name.

I have been given the name Tania (1995)
A life size figure of Californian media heiress Patty Hearst photographed as ‘Tania’ while she was under the control of the Symbionese Liberation Army in 1974 was set up outside the Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts during Barbara’s artist-in-residency there in 1995.

Backwash (1993–1995)
In Backwash, the artist reconstructs the tales of three females emerging from the dense foliage of Conrad’s Heart of Darkness.

Fleas or The Menses of Lizzie Borden (1994)
The menses of Lizzie Borden has been examined since her trial in the late 19th century for the murder of her stepmother and father in Fall River, Mass.

The Diamond Necklace Affair (1991–1993)
This performance was inspired by the life of Marie-Antoinette, wife of Louis XVI, the last Bourbon King of France.

Loom of Arachne (1990–1991)
The warp fills the room from floor to ceiling and wall to wall.
