In a bold and brave display of self-examination, performance artist Sarah Sanders scrawled sentences starting with ‘I used to…’ on the floors and walls of an aged building. In a remarkable show of the progression of time and an examination into identity, memory and evolution through repetition, Sanders filled the empty space with admissions about her past self: ‘I used to be in control’, ‘I used to be in pain’, ‘I used to be in love’. The ritualistic writing with chalk on the floors and walls of the building are a physical representation of that journey into a past self or identity through movement and language. It is simultaneously a documentation of memories, of change, of progression, of evaluation and ultimately, of moving on. 

Sarah Sanders explains her work ‘I Used to’ which was performed as part of ‘The Dark Would’ exhibition at Summerhall. 

Photo Credit: Nick Leyland