Rebecca Moss’s Slapstick Stunts at Focal Point Gallery

Rebecca Moss’s first institutional solo show in the UK, 'Unstable Condition', runs at Focal Point Gallery in Southend-on-Sea from 28 June to 16 September. The exhibition features six video projections, including 'Animal Cruelty' (2016), a 75-second loop of a water balloon suspended above a woman, and 'Shark' (2019), an eight-second clip of Moss in a shark costume rolling on a skateboard toward swans. Moss performs in all but one video, drawing on Buster Keaton and early Laurel and Hardy films. Her stunts—such as dropping concrete slabs onto a cake or attempting a tablecloth trick with a boulder—never put her at real physical risk, contrasting with male comedians. The show also includes '23 Days at Sea' (2023), documenting a container ship voyage from Vancouver to Tokyo where the boat was denied docking, stranding Moss for an extra 15 days. In the gallery’s window, 'Skydrop' (2023) displays fibreglass ice-cream sculptures bought on eBay and Facebook Marketplace, arranged as if falling. The exhibition blends slapstick with a lingering sadness.