This Instance of Distance
Steven Oliver
Photo: Rhett Hammerton
This Instance of Distance is the title of a new performance work from Steven Oliver. Oliver’s poetics invite audiences to listen and contemplate the present amidst the health and safety measures of COVID-19. In considering our personal comfortability and relatability, albeit by distance, the poem questions whether these social dynamics have always existed and have only become more apparent due to the increased fear of the global pandemic.
Steven Oliver, This Instance of Distance, 2020, HD video, stereo audio, 00:01:44. Documentation: Rhett Hammerton
Steven Oliver was born in Cloncurry in North West Queensland and is currently based in Brisbane. He is a writer/performer in a myriad of fields ranging from poetry and acting to songwriting and cabaret. His written works for the stage includes the plays Proppa Solid (published by Playlab Press), From Darkness (Brisbane Festival) and his one-man cabaret show; Bigger and Blacker (Adelaide Cabaret Festival). All of which received rave reviews from both critics and audiences.
His poetic works have been published in international poetry journals Ora Nui and Solid Air as well as national journals Australian Poetry Journal and Fire Front: First Nations Poetry and Power Today. His spoken word piece ‘What Matters’ opened the 2020 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras and was televised globally.
His written works for the small screen include web series; A Chance Affair as well as Australia’s first indigenous arts game show; Faboriginal and Logie nominated sketch comedy show Black Comedy, seasons one and two. His latest work; Looky Looky Here Comes Cookey, for which he is both writer and presenter, will have its world premiere at the 2020 Melbourne International Film Festival.