Andromeda and the Milky Way

2019 and 2021. Performance drawing with charcoal, single-channel videos. Performers: Emma Fielden and Lizzie Thomson.

Andromeda and the Milky Way is a durational performance that unfolds through drawing, movement and time. Two performers, positioned opposite each other, remain anchored to their own points, drawing repeatedly across a field of paper in charcoal. From these fixed positions, each traces arcs that extend outward from the body, gradually forming expanding orbital fields that approach and eventually meet on the surface. The work develops through duration, proximity, relation and repetition, producing a dense accumulation of marks that records the reach and limits of each body in space, while the performers themselves remain at a distance.

The work takes its title from the projected merger of the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies, an event predicted to occur in approximately four billion years. While the two galaxies will eventually coalesce, the likelihood of individual stars or planets colliding is extremely small. This paradox—convergence without impact—structures the work. Through contained, repetitive action, the performers trace cycles of approach and divergence, proximity and withdrawal, translating astronomical movement into a human, relational register.

Across its iterations, the work exists as performance, drawing and moving image. The resulting forms hold traces of duration, friction and relation, positioning drawing as both action and aftermath.