EXPEND

Expend is a large human-scale painting created through a process of mark-making with feet using axe-kicks, a kick used in Taekwondo. This artwork is about the process of expending excess energy, or 'self-regulating'. The painting itself is a byproduct of this energy expenditure.

'“There is another place which values the expenditure of excess energy. Self-regulation is highly valued in the art world. Through the process of making, the artist is also self-regulating. Like in the Taekwando arena, it is entirely appropriate to kick and scream throughout the 'creative process'.”

Expend has been performed in many spaces. The 2018 performance at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, was the first artwork ever to be shown or performed on their Rooftop space.

“When young, autistic people are often taught out of their natural tendencies to self-regulate.”

They are taught that it is not 'normal', or in other terminology 'appropriate', to self-regulate in public spaces. They are taught to have 'quiet hands'. Where self-regulation is recognised as a valid need it is channelled into arenas such as sports or martial arts, where it is socially acceptable to kick and scream.

For many autistics these arenas (if they can access them) remain the only socially acceptable places to expend excess energy, a process necessary to prevent autistic meltdowns.

EXPEND | MCA