The Invented Suicide of a Fictitious Mouse - June 2007

(120 x 365 x 380 cm)
Treadle sewing machine, electric motors, tilt switches, plywood, wind chimes, mouse traps, gold nylon thread, sound equipment, cardboard mouse.

Wooden Levers, strung together by gold thread, were connected to the sewing arm of an old sewing machine. This was possibly the most pain staking installation I have ever created. It took a lot of patience linking each lever together and making it balance so the whole chain could work.

The levers moved up and down in repetitive synchronization with the movements of the sewing machine. This repetitive motion triggered devices such as a buzzer, rattling cups and a winch mechanism.

Attached to the winch mechanism was the small cardboard image of a mouse, perched on a heavy brass rod. Over the course of the installation the winch was set to gradually lower the mouse onto an active mouse trap. The mouse trap was part of a string of three mousetraps, set to go off in a line and strike a set of wind chimes.

The winch lowered the 'mouse' onto the first mouse trap as planned, but...The 'mouse' became trapped in the arm of the mouse trap and the winch carried on winding. The mouse then started to travel upwards rather than down.

The whole thing took so long to set up that I only had one chance to film it. So, I stood back and kept filming as the winch carried on lifting the mouse, until suddenly the winch tower toppled over.

I felt like how a wildlife documentary film crew must feel when documenting the untimely death of an animal; one they had been following and recording since birth.

I am happy with the outcome because i know i let the piece come to its own natural conclusion. This also made my experiment in Cause and Effect into something more like a fable.

Ultimately, the death of the 'mouse' led to the demise of the machine.