by In 1984, Australian performance artist Mike Mullins appeared at the Sydney Festival: as a human exhibit at Taronga Zoo.
From the late 1970s, Mike Mullins forged a reputation as one of the most provocative artists in Australia.
His medium was performance. Appearing on stage or in public, usually in costume, he used a number of different characters to tackle sensitive, controversial topics.
While performance art is a niche medium, Mullins’ work was edgy enough that he became well known. He was also frequently in trouble, clashing with establishment arts industry groups, and even the law.
His public performances caused him to be arrested several times.
Mullins was from the Riverina in New South Wales, and grew up in a small town called The Rock. The name came from the area’s defining natural landmark: a tooth-like granite point, formally called ‘Kengal’.
The Rock was an isolated community, growing up Mullins frequently felt out of place. Drawn to the arts from a young age, when he finished high school he enrolled at the nearby Wagga School of Arts.
Mullins studied acting and stage direction, and after graduating in the early 1970s, moved to Sydney. There he found work at the Old Tote Theatre, based on the University of New South Wales campus.
Mullins would work there for a few years, in a variety of roles.
In 1973, Mullins met Jerzy Grotowski, a Polish theatre director who had come to Australia to deliver a series of lectures. The pair stayed in touch afterwards, when Grotowski returned the following year with a show, Mullins was appointed stage manager.
Grotowski was an innovator, best known for a style called ‘Poor Theatre’. This attempted to more directly connect the audience to the performance, stripping back the production to remove elaborate sets and costumes, putting the focus on the actors.
For performers it was a demanding approach, requiring specific training and strong discipline. It was also highly influential, and Grotowski would come to be seen as one of the foremost figures in late 20th century theatre.
The show Grotowski brought to Sydney was ‘Apocalypsis cum Figuris’, a project he had spent four years developing. The ambitious production was a re-telling of the story of Christ, mixing passages from the Bible with more contemporary writers like T.S.Eliot and Dostoyevsky.
The subject and style generated much controversy, and was like nothing the theatre community in Australia had seen before. Reviews were mixed.
Apocalypsis cum Figuris was an experience that engaged me purely on a physical level, by the extraordinary discipline and the sound, and the vibration of the room.
Peter West, actor
While some found the show thrilling or revelatory, other attendees complained it was ‘exhausting’, ‘difficult to process’, and ‘unengaging’. Some just objected to the price: tickets cost the equivalent of $300, set by Grotowski so he could let anyone under 25 in for free.
The show, and Grotowski himself, made an enormous impression on Mullins. Afterwards, he accepted an invite to visit the director in Poland, and study under him.
Returning to Australia in 1976, Mullins began performing in his own shows. Appearing in small theatres in Sydney and Melbourne, he experimented with different forms and styles, while he developed his own process.
In 1979 he created a new persona, he called ‘No One’. No One was meant to be a kind of stylised every-person, a ‘chameleon-animal’ in the artist’s words.
Mullins obscured his identity with cloth wrapped around his face, or sometimes a brown paper bag, and wore a nondescript suit. In this guise he appeared at public events, or in shop windows, as a kind of living statue.
He never spoke while in character.
While this seems like a simple approach for a performance piece, the unusual otherness of No One made quite an impact; ‘The silence and stillness haunts people, disturbs people’, Mullins said.
In 1981, Mullins brought No One to the Australia Day celebrations in Sydney. Re-badged as ‘The Lone Anzac’, he appeared at a re-enactment of the First Fleet landing in Circular Quay, dressed in a military uniform and slouch hat, and carrying an altered Australian flag missing the Union Jack.
Mullins placed himself in the way of the official party, blocking their disembarkment. He then followed them to a ceremonial area where speeches were to be delivered, and stood in a roped off space meant for VIPs.
Seen as a security threat, he was arrested by police. He would later be charged with behaviour likely to cause serious alarm or affront.
Undeterred, Mullins continued to appear as the Lone Anzac at several more events.
Prince Charles and Lady Diana were in Sydney at the time, as part of a tour of the Commonwealth celebrating their recent marriage. Mullins confronted the Prince while he was inspecting the Botanic Gardens, causing him a moment’s consternation until he was ushered away.
On Anzac Day that year, he performed a silent, 12 hour vigil at Bondi beach. He even appeared as the Lone Anzac when he went to court.
The charges against Mullins were eventually dropped.
In 1984, Mullins came up with a new project, that was included in the program for that year’s Sydney festival. Always fascinated by animals and the natural world, the artist would perform as a ‘Human Exhibit’ at Taronga Zoo.
This year, for the Festival of Sydney 1984, a unique animal will be on display at the zoo for the first time. The animal, found in all parts of the world but never displayed this way, is called, ‘homo sapiens’: the human animal.’
Sydney Festival guide, 1984
Starting on January 5, for twenty days Mullins would go on display in an open enclosure, usually used by Orangutans.
Living in the caged space full time, his primary objective was to puncture the inflated opinion humans had of their own species. To the press Mullins said, ‘it will do it good to see it displayed, like any other animal.’
A sign at the front of the exhibit read, ‘Homo Sapiens: The world’s most dangerous animal’.
To pass the time, Mullins interacted with onlookers, and gave interviews. A highlight came on January 10, when he hosted members of the Australia Council, for lunch.
The council was one of Australia’s peak art funding bodies, which Mullins had frequently criticised.
The chairman, Dr Timothy Pascoe, and the three members of the Theatre Board attended, joining Mullins around a circular table inside the enclosure. The conversation was largely friendly, but also pointed.
Mr Mullins, who has said loudly and often, that the Theatre Board neglected alternative theatre, reiterated the charge yesterday. Adding for good measure, that “the Australia Council maintains a colonial culture here.” Dr Pascoe shut his eyes, in one of those ‘God, give me patience’ looks.
Sydney Morning Herald, reporting the lunch
Large crowds turned out to see the exhibit, which had an estimated attendance of around 60 000 over its run. Mullins declared the event a great success.
During his stint, he began working on a book, covering innovations in the performing arts in Australia.
After his appearance at the zoo, Mullins returned to his work in the performance arts field.
In 1983 he had become the founding director of ‘Performance Space’, a theatre designed to encourage experimental works. He divided his time between this, and appearing in his own shows.
Through the 1980s he brought his ‘No One’ character back several times. In 1985 he performed in character at the Orange Arts Festival in regional NSW, backed by 130 high school students also dressed as No One.
The group paraded through down the main street, and handed out flyers parodying military recruitment, that stated, ‘No One Wants You’.
In his later career, Mullins had stints working for both the Museum of Brisbane, and the City of Melbourne. At present, he runs his own creative consulting business.
On Australia Day 2016, he was be awarded the Order of Australia Medal (OAM) for his service to theatre and the arts.
Noting the significance of the date, he quipped: ‘On Australia Day 1981 they arrested me for my artwork, and on Australia Day this year, they are giving me a medal. I’m a proud Australian.’
