Lillian Bonner

At the time of her next exhibition, Lilian Bonner was seen as the most influential performance artist of her time. Refusing to be interviewed or questioned on any of her artworks left the public and media intrigued by the woman no one had ever heard speak a word. Choosing for the first time to house her latest performance in an abandoned building that once manufactured wine, a long line of people had encircled the building for days.

Among her most prolific sculptures and performances included the Endless Fishtank. This tank had been placed in a city centre that looked to go on for an eternity with the help of unknown techniques that only furthered her pull of public fascination. Her performance piece, The Chaos of Woman, got a lot of attention early on in her career. Lillian lined up twenty or so objects that men had taken credit for as creators, ranging from Monopoly boards to computers, even windshield wipers. The performance lasted thirty-six straight hours, with Lillian crafting a woman from the stolen objects. Perhaps the most covered performance that frequented the media outlets at the time included The Trees Have No Name – Lillian had collected the debris of wood shavings from a large-scale logging company that tore down forests to make room for infrastructure. Using the debris as a framework for one of their machines, she positioned herself outside of the politician that had greenlit the project, taking her place on its roof until she was handcuffed and taken away.

Speculation was often cast over the character of Lilian Bonner; some theorised that she belonged to a larger organisation- merely being one of the many pieces that took to holding the world under a microscope. Some even said her ideas weren’t her own but that the real Lillian hid behind this woman. One thing remained certain, all eyes were on her latest work. A young girl no older than fifteen held the first spot at the beginning of the snaking line, following her every move on sightings across several social media platforms and through a bit of detective work of her own, she had come to wait at the building before the crowds arrived. After hours of waiting through the cold, a thundering bell snapped everyone’s attention to the closed-door- springing open the girl whose legs remained sluggish after having stood in the same spot for hours nearly lost her place and balance. Regaining her senses, she pushed forward into a narrow corridor- the excited jumble of the crowd behind her fell away into the background. The passage turned right, then left, then right, straight until the girl came to a door with a painted sign above it- Only One Can Enter, pushing on the door a soft hiss closed it behind her- leaving the shaggy looking artist to be pounding on the other side asking her what she saw. Ignoring his attempts at seeing before her, the girl walked forward through another thin corridor- a blind of light lit up something just ahead. Hurrying her step, the girl had come to the end. Before her sat a mirror, encrusted with bright Marigold flowers along its border and a gold-plated inscription that read, ‘Often we go looking for beauty and never think to look for it within ourselves.’ The girl looked up from the inscription into the mirror, staring at herself for what felt like the first time in a long time. Not a look of vanity or to carry out one of the many necessities one needed in front of a mirror but just to look. At her glasses. Her dishevelled hair, the necklace her mother had got her for her birthday. Taking it all in, she gave her reflection a slight smile before following her way out.

Lillian Bonner hid in the rafters of the building, out of sight from the people below; she watched the young girl. Impressed with her determination to be the first to see her new work, catching sight of the stranger’s reflection, Lilian couldn’t help but smile.