In the Provisional Arrangements: Operative Structures series, Cullen installed works on the foreshore, leaving them in situ to be submerged by the incoming tide. Among these were modified chairs and tables engineered to remain upright in water. Another assemblage featured a hinged yellow ruler, fixed to a white post set in a concrete-filled metal base, tethered by an orange cord to a floating polystyrene block, which was similarly tethered to a second concrete-filled bucket. This system harnessed tidal movements to animate the piece: as the tide rose, the floating block ascended, tightening the cord and causing the ruler to stand vertically. Conversely, as the tide receded, the tension in the cord lessened, and the ruler fell back into a zigzag configuration.

The Paul Cullen Archive’s strategy for reinstalling the remaining components from this series draws on the Fluxus concept of 'living sculpture,' where artworks transform and adapt to their environments. We installed these pieces in the warehouse where the archive is housed (2023), and for each image, we reconfigured the hinged ruler into a new shape, capturing the artwork's ability to transform, much like the constant shifts induced by its original tidal context.

This project was developed as a component of Layla Tweedie-Cullen's PhD research Circles Within the Archive: Navigating the Paradoxes of Paul Cullen’s Practice.

Images by Layla Tweedie-Cullen, 2023