Wake Up

Wake Up (2017) is a participatory performance work developed by invitation from the curator of First Thursdays for presentation at the Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane. Courtney Coombs served as both curator and performer for the evening, inviting other artists to present performative works alongside their own contribution. The event invited attendees to lay down with Coombs and collectively ask the world, each other, and themselves to wake up through various vocal expressions—telepathically, quietly, or as loudly as participants chose. The approximately 20-minute performance created a temporary community organised around shared desire for awakening, whether interpreted as personal consciousness, social awareness, or political activation. Participants engaged through pleading whispers, requests, and loud demands, sometimes accompanied by harmonies, creating a collective soundscape of urgent appeal. Coombs' dual role as curator and performer demonstrated how artists can create platforms for other practitioners while developing their own work within collaborative contexts. The curatorial component expanded the evening beyond a single work into a collective investigation of performance and participation, positioning "Wake Up" within broader dialogue about embodied practice and community engagement. The work positioned the gallery floor as a site for vulnerability and shared experience, requiring participants to adopt horizontal positioning that countered typical vertical gallery viewing. This physical reorientation reflected the work's conceptual investment in alternative modes of engagement and collective action, moving away from individual contemplation toward communal activity. The concept of "waking up" operates across multiple registers—from literal sleep consciousness to metaphorical awakening to social and political realities. The work's ambiguity allows participants to project their own interpretations of what requires awakening, creating personalised yet collective experience around shared themes of urgency and transformation. Wake Up reflects Coombs' investigation into how art can create platforms for community building and shared intention while supporting other artists' experimental practice. The work contributes to discussions about participatory art and curatorial practice, demonstrating how artists can operate across multiple roles to create meaningful collective experiences within institutional contexts. The documentation preserves evidence of temporary community formation around shared aspiration, highlighting both the potential and limitations of art as vehicle for social awakening.<p></p>