Branding documentation

402 807 197K went smashingly smooth, tho still causing a lot of controversy. Assisted by Gray Taylor, Zak Bennett and Akean Lewinski, Bethany J Fellows was branded with her Centrelink Customer Reference Number at Fitzroy Centrelink on Wednesday the 19th of November. There was minimal fuss with security, The Law and Centrelink staff ("We can't have people burning themselves outside Centrelink" a Centrelink employee was heard to exclaim halfway through the performance). The Artist's leg was strike branded a total of 33 times as she read out a letter to Centrelink. The performance went for approximately 10 minutes and spectators mostly said that the piece was very beautiful and moving but also nauseating. Bethany will post an Artist's statement later today. Her leg is healing well.

CRN later that night

Here's the letter Bethany read whilst she got burnt:

Dear Centrelink,

Mood: Shackled, liberated, contrary

I said I would never do this, I struggle so much in my life to be open in my communication, to give my words shape verbally and not scribed. And so I read this letter aloud, a prompt so I don't forget, lose the guts, start crying. We've been doing this foxtrot for seven years, very different creatures, trying to just BE.

You've supported me through some real rough times and I am forever indebted. I cannot overstate how much you have informed and changed my life. I know you don't feel the same, and after so much waiting, I know you never will, AND that reciprocity is obviously one of my major challenges in life and I accept that that's my problem. But you've also really let me down.

We entered this relationship aware that we were very different.I am a Gemini, quicksilvery, Mercurial and you are so obviously a Capricorn, restrictive, Saturnine. I feel so tied down and long for freedom. I want to share, be open, reveal all that I am: the dark cobwebby corners, not just an impish grin. You won't let me in, I meet so much opposition...

Lately, have you noticed? I've been lying to you. What else can a cloistered kept woman do? You're constantly checking up on me. It's been a month and you just keep calling and calling and calling. You're calling from three different numbers trying to trick me into answering but I know it's you.

8888 4600: that's you.

Private number: that's you.

0423 295 029: the most slippery one of all, I know that's you on the job network's work mobile.

Haven't you heard of caller ID? I'm out living my life.

Your obsessive attention seeking is so trying. You're like a child always trying to get a reaction out of me.
Do you remember that time I was sick, and I rang up to tell you and that I had a medical certificate and as a precautionary remedial measure, you cut me off?

Do you remember that you called every single one of my employers over the past seven years and you made me feel like a small piece of dole bludging dirt underneath the government's shoe?

Do you remember that time that you called one of my employers, a charity, to check up on me and I answered the phone and you were so sheepish and I sent you hate mail & your employee quit?

And do you remember when I couldn't supply several months of dates that I worked at my minimum wage job so you cut me off & I sat on the steps and sobbed after waiting for five hours. And a man who'd also been cut off because his daughter turned six, came and sat next to me on the steps and helped me fill out my form?

Do you remember that I stood outside Centrelink and stamped people's healthcare cards with the words "the holder of this card is a valued member of the community"?

Do you remember the time that I offered to re-design your promotional youth allowance material free of charge because it looked like it had been designed in Paint?

Do you remember that time that I sat in the waiting room and had a picnic? The look on people's faces…

And so this is it. I just can't do it. We are worlds apart. It's hard but we're better off without each other.

No, there's no-one else. I won't answer the phone. I'll RTS your mail. Please don't contact me. I'll never forget you.

Bethany