From the original Festival website:

RAW explores the contemporary phenomenon of compulsive athleticism. The obsessive drive of physical self-development through ‘body based’ activities as hallmarks of current western culture:  Obsession, addiction & over-achievement pedaled as a route to salvation in an industrialised and materialistic society.

R.A.W. (Race across the West) is an 860-mile ultra-endurance cycle event, commonly referred to as racing against the clock or The Race of Truth. Spanning across North America, soloists ride non-stop until they must sleep. They sleep for less than two hours a day. They stay fuelled by liquid carbohydrate strapped to their backs.

Many don’t complete it, many are injured, many refuse to stop.

RAW (body as machine) is a simulation of this race and a grappling with the complex disorder known as compulsive athleticism. Throughout NRLA 2010, I will attempt to cycle 860 miles. RAW is a durational performance that ends as part of a larger performance installation.

Since graduating from the RSAMD (now Royal Conservatoire of Scotland) in 2003, Kate has worked nationally and internationally as an artist, educator, performer, director. She has performed solo work at the NRLA in 2003, 2004 and 2006.

Kate’s arts practice is influenced by her work as a qualified yoga instructor and personal trainer. She aims to explore psycho-physical connections, the transgression of physical limits and the functions/ understandings of our bodies within western society.

Artist’s note: “an important point for me was that I was cycling throughout the whole festival.  I was static and the landscape of the festival moved and changed around me, rather than me moving through the landscape.”