I am considering four formats to show performative material and am interested in the different kinds of spectatorship each invites: 1. A live-stream video of me moving in a large field, 2. a kind of private cinema for one spectator who sits inside a red fabric enclosure, 3. a virtual gallery space and 4. a collective Silent Walk with the inhabitants of a small town. The content of the material explores the friction between the internal and external, the inner elements of the body or the spaces the body surrounds with its natural surroundings. I've gone back to re-read Julia Kristeva's concept of the semiotic chora as a realm that exists before word and meaning. I am still looking for the moments of risk and am realizing that much of that has to do with the audience to be and what sound or text I will use.
1. Live-stream video
This link is my first attempt at going live. I show elements of my practice of explicating the internal and internalizing the external through my senses and movement. I bring my attention to the inside of me, to how I sense myself on the inside; my anatomy, emotions and energies, using that to inspire movement and the timing of that movement. I interchange this with bringing my attention to my surroundings and letting what is outside of me enter my body through my senses and inspire movement. I am also aware of the overlapping of my body with its surroundings (a sense of space) and consider the gaze of the spectator/camera in what is seen, not seen or fragmented. I attempt to override my first impulse for movement in order to let the movements occur and hope through that not to determine what the spectator sees.
I also tried projecting a film outside and came up with this. The re-filming of the film creates a light-scanning within the image.
2. Private Cinema
I've created an enclosed space outside with a red cloth, which allows the projected film to be seen even in the daytime. The spectator can hold the projector, move it around, adjust the size of the image. There are surfaces of a stone wall, the red cloth, one's own body and the ground to project on, and the spectator has agency in how and where he or she watches. The films are silent so that the surrounding sound of the outdoors acts as a background.
Here is the link to the film that is showed:
Some questions to be answered afterwards:
Describe your experience in as much detail as you can.
Where did you project the film?
What image that you saw stays with you?
What sensation stays with you?
3. Menses Museum
Here I've been learning about artsteps.com as a space to exhibit the menstruation blood paintings. I'm not sure if I can keep editing after I publish, so I've taken some pictures of the site for now.
4. Silent Walk
I'm still thinking about how and who to invite. Shall I make an open invitation to the whole village (there are many elderly people living here!)? Shall I leave invitations in mailboxes? Do I need to know who is joining beforehand? How do I curate the end - a gathering, filling out the questionaire, drinks/snacks...?
Here are the instructions at this point in time:
Give yourself an hour if possible, but there is no need to keep the exact time.
Have no plan as to where you will walk and no expectations of what you might see. Simply open your front door and walk outside, taking one step after the other in a steady rhythm. The speed of your walk is up to you. Try to keep this rhythm in your body while you navigate the surroundings. Do not use your voice to speak and let your thoughts be fluid.
If a thought comes to you to stop, continue on. If the thought persists or something in your body begins to ache, continue but with more care. Let the end of the walk happen, without it being the result of a thought.
When you have finished, please come to the park behind the playground to answer some questions and relax!
Here are some questions I would ask after participation:
How does your body feel?
Do you think this could be called a performance?
What did you see, hear, think about?
What does "silent" mean to you?
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