During lock-down and in self-isolation, many people have had time to reflect on what is truly of value to them.
The bath meditations were originally a series of four sound recordings, accompanied by photographs, taken during bathing performances in November 2020. They were a response to the question: Is bathing valid? But more broadly, this was a continuation of previous work which explored breathing spaces: – pauses – profound moments, activities and encounters which we experience daily, but which have no monetary value.
performances took place from the mobile bath which can be wheeled to any outdoor setting and heated up. They are immersive responses to the bathing experiences; dialogues with specific places and moments in time.
Jessica has since given many mobile bath performances in a variety of locations including the Yorkshire Sculpture Park and at Wild Rumpus.
You can see a short film, of Jessica setting up and having one of her off-grid baths, below:
Living off-grid has made me more acutely aware of how dependent we are, and how caught up we are, in systems which perpetuate inequality, unsustainable production and unnecessary consumption. Our time is monetised, and bathing – (like ‘time wasting ‘ and daydreaming), is treated as non-essential, a luxury. I decided to make an art practice from the process of taking time to bathe. I began by obtaining a cast iron bath which could be mounted on a mobile frame and wheeled over a wood fire. Whilst making the initial frame, I realised that the weight of the cast iron bath would be a challenge to mobilise, and so began to create multiple bathing installations, all of which, explored the immersive qualities of bathing in various outdoor locations.
Jessica Rost
The off-grid aspect of ‘taking a bath’ became important to the project: these bathing experiences are mobile, independent, not ‘plumbed in’. Each bath-time has a sound recording of me humming – a dialogue with a moment, a specific place, and a particular bathing experience.
The latest bath is one that Jessica fabricated from scrap steel sheeting and can be cycled around.
I created the bath shape in cardboard first before cutting and welding the sheets together. I built the trolley from discarded bicycles and other recycled steel frames. The mobile bath has a gas water heater which runs off camping gas, and the water is circulated using battery powered pumps. The whole system can be wheeled into any location and heated up ready for bathing within 20 minutes. You can see the making of the mobile bath in the images here.
The mobile bath is also available for private bookings.