'If to Drift' participants:

Alastair MacLennan
In 1997 Alastair MacLennan represented Ireland at the Venice Biennale with intermedia work commemorating the names of all those who died as a result of the political trouble in Northern Ireland from 1969 to date. During the 1970s and 1980s he made long durational performances in Britain and America, of up to 144 hours each, non-stop, usually neither eating nor sleeping throughout. Subject matter dealt with political, social and cultural malfunction. Since 1975 he has been based in Belfast, Ireland, and was a founder member of Belfast's Art and Research Exchange, and is currently a member of the artist group, Bbeyond. From 1975 to his retirement in 2009, he taught at what is now called the University of Ulster, running the Postgraduate Fine Art Programme in Belfast for 11 years, and most recently as a Research Professor in Fine Art at the University of Ulster. He travels extensively in Eastern and Western Europe, also America and Canada, presenting actuations (his term for performance/installations). He is a member of the European Performance Group called 'Black Market International'.

Sandra Johnston
Sandra Johnston's approach to making actions is essentially site-reactive. The processes which she has evolved since 1992, explore ideas of active intervention, regarding both the history and present circumstances of selected environments. The focus is generally centred on human behaviour, particularly to a sense of territorial ownership and permission of space. Between 2002-2005, she was awarded an ARTS HUMANITIES & RESEARCH COUNCIL- RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP to develop research into the concept of "Trauma of Place" - exploring the potential for creative intervention within spaces associated in public memory with violent events. This research has evolved outwards from Northern Ireland into many different international contexts, consistently investigating relationships between processes of art, trauma, and commemoration. Johnston recently represented Northern Ireland at the Venice Biennale in 2005. She was appointed Lecturer in Time-Based Art in 2005 at the University of Ulster, Belfast, where she is currently on a 3-year Leave Of Absence to undertake a PhD project entitled "Beyond Reasonable Doubt".

Natalie Loveless
Natalie Loveless is an artist, theorist, and teacher, currently completing her PhD in the History of Consciousness department of the University of California, Santa Cruz, on trans-disciplinarity and its implications for new models of pedagogy and socially engaged art practices. Since 2003 her work has included conversation-based installation, social intervention work and more traditional forms of durational action-art. She has presented her work in North and South America, Europe and Asia. Upcoming exhibitions include 'Venice Wrap', a collaborative performance at the Venice Bienale with the LoveArtLab and 'The Artists Knowledge', a collaborative wall drawing for the at the Kentler International Drawing Space, NYC.

Marilyn Arsem
Marilyn Arsem has been creating live events since 1975, ranging from solo performances to large-scale works incorporating installation and performance. She has presented work at festivals, alternative spaces, galleries, museums conferences and universities throughout Europe, Asia, North and South America. In her recent performances, Arsem has focused on creating site-specific works that respond to the history or politics of the country, engaging with the immediate landscape and materiality of the location. Sites have included a former Cold War missile base in the United States, a 15th century Turkish bath in Macedonia, an aluminum factory in Argentina, and the site of the Spanish landing in the Philippines. Arsem is the founder of Mobius, Inc., a Boston-based interdisciplinary collaborative of artists. She is a full-time faculty member at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, where she teaches performance art, and is a graduate advisor.

Bob Raymond
Bob Raymond is a long-time member of the Mobius Artists Group. He is an intermedia artist who has worked in many forms of electronic visual and aural media. In the past, he has engaged in performance, installation, sound environment composition, video, and photography. He recently exhibited 20 years of performance documentation at Studio Soto in Boston, entitled 'this: moment - missives from another world.' He has been documenting (photographically and at times using video) the work of Mobius members and other experimental artists who might cross paths with Mobius since the early 1980's. He also maintains the photographic archives of Mobius, Inc. Until recently, he had worked for over 20 years as an engineering manager in the television industry. He is now weighing his future options on a precise scale, one by one. The floor of his workshop is littered with them.

This project has been supported by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, as well as generous private support.