I really do not like performance art or maybe I just am afraid of trying it myself. I have some a few great works but mostly I want to tell each artist that they need some theater/acting or at least lighting training. So, this section was hard for me and it pushed me which is exactly why i love this book. I was bad at some of the attitude but then I knew that was my own limited knowledge coming into play. I had seen the James Luna work on artifacts in museum cases (without the performance part) years ago in D.C. It made me laugh /think/ realize and then rethink everything I thought I knew about museum collecting and exhibitions. Ed and I invited Edger Heap of Birds to Lubbock for a TAEA conference. He is everything you think he would be. Smart/sharp, kind, insight full and does not take on fools. It was a interesting to see how others reacted when he did not stand for the National Anthem. Or say the pledge. Even more interesting to see them react to his work. This was 10 years ago and Native American living breathing artists were not really big with the conference planners.
Tell me how you would (or have) created a performance. What would you be saying or trying to say. What reaction would hope from the viewer. Enjoy and play.
Aside: I still find it strangely unnerving when I am at a public function and they say the pledge and pray.
ReplyDeleteMy premise on this topic is:
Performance is deeply involved in the act of creation. Showmanship is something else entirely.
So much of what educators do is performance. There was a French teacher in my high school –she threw candy from her bottom drawer to student who answered correctly. Smelling like a mix of linoleum floor wax, mildly perspiring eager French speakers and Jolly Ranchers, The whole class was a Pavlovian Circus. Although I am certain the students looked like trained seals—It was a fun class where students learned through positive reinforcement. Still so many years later I remember, it was quite a performance.
This week was a strange one and a busy one in my museums. I was asked to create a mini conference about Creativity and Spirituality for Christus Healthcare Corporate Council. These are not creatives or even educators. They are the administration in charge of a place of healing. They are hospital administrators charged with unifying body and soul. They were very uncomfortable with creation. (Which given that Creation is the first subject for most religious text, I find amusing ).
The act of creation is a performance.
Think of the glass blowers in Junction or the wheel spinning while a lump of wet dirt becomes a pot—a white piece of paper which suddenly takes the likeness of your dearest friend—it’s a performance.
There is an artist, who draws very simple forms with a blow torch. It’s amazing to watch. There is just enough showmanship that it could be the subject of a performance piece.
Back to ephemera:
Perhaps my piece would be—based again on the tangible and intangible—perhaps one person would draw with fire and the other with smoke and we could vote on facebook which was more moving.
“Excuse me while I kiss the sky”.
WOW!!! I was entranced while reading your post. Imaging all of the things you talk about, and drifting off to my own classroom and how true it is, every time I demonstrate a new technique or the students and teachers stand around me as I draw or paint. I love it! I never thought of it as performance art but yes I agree!
DeleteL ynn, your meandering answers are always so filled with information and great references. What a fun response. I wish I lived nearer because my work is so much a part of spirituality. Or should I say spirituality is vital part of my art and as such I would have enjoyed what your conference had to say even if I had to sneak in as a volunteer.
DeleteBonjour Lynn! I enjoyed the post; I would love to have taken a French class that was this entertaining. It is true the act of creating art is a performance; I find it can be mesmerizing to watch other artist at work. I also find that doing art is spiritual, it is my safe place where healing and discoverers occur, and time ceases to exist.
DeleteLynn, I agree that teaching is a performance. I cannot speak for most educators, but I was not prepared for performance when I began teaching. The closest classes I took that I would consider minimal preparation is Speech and Interpersonal Communications. A theatre class would have been useful in hindsight. There are no workshops provided for performing in the classroom available as staff development that I am aware of. Another difficult aspect of teaching, is how to make it fun. Much of the performance aspect of teaching relies on the personality of the teacher. Oh, yes and the energy level.
DeleteLynn,
DeleteI completely agree with your statement that performance is integrated into creation, showmanship is something else entirely. To me, to "teach" is to "know" first. One cannot be without the other. Your French teacher orchestrated a lasting lesson of positive reinforcement even if in a "pavlovian" manner..
Indeed, Junction is a performance environment. Whether a student is blowing glass with an assistant's help, unveiling their creation while the class (audience) watches, throwing clay on a wheel with an assistant's help, or the fresco painters working on plaster while the Brazilian students observe, it's all live performance. Even the drawing and printmaking classes are viewed by visitors in the art of creation...all performance. That is the beauty of Junction.
I did loan my sensipensante book to the director of Mission Services at Christus. She loved it.
ReplyDeleteI have always wanted to do a performance piece. As of right now, the first thing that comes to mind would be to set up a kitchen, living room, and bedroom scene. These different rooms would be like movie sets, or a stage. Maybe we could have a real house open for the viewers to come walk through? There would be two gay men that could walk freely throughout the “mock house”. The two men would eat in the kitchen, watch the TV in the living room, and sleep in the bedroom. With this performance I would want people to see two men living together and how normal it is. Being a homosexual man, I have met a lot of people who do not understand who I am, or how I live my personal life. We all know there isn’t any difference, but some people think that gay couples “live differently”. I’m sure an artist has already done something like this, maybe not in performance, but I am interested in the idea of showing how two gay men live together. I also would want to address the issue of homophobia by showing that we are just like non-homosexual couples. We eat. We have likes and dislikes. We get bored. We watch TV. We sleep. We hog the covers. We are normal human beings. Most images of the gay culture are in a nightclub or having one-night stands. However, you hardly ever see images of a gay couple living in suburbia, raising a family, or having a lifestyle that doesn’t look like it’s a studio 54 movie. I am not saying one lifestyle is better than the other; all I would be trying to get across to my audience is that not all gay people live, or think the same way. Some of us enjoy the family atmosphere, or the quiet and contentment of hanging out at home in our pj’s, watching a movie, rather than picking someone different up every night at a bar. This could be a very interesting and effective performance, or could be one big joke? Either way I think it gets a positive point across for the gay community.
ReplyDeleteJayson I love this idea! So many people are afraid of gay people and have the COMPLETE wrong idea about who they are as people and yes they are people! My boyfriends sister is gay and she lives with us and my son, and she is a great influence and role model for my son. She helps in raising him just as much as we do! I think this is so important for others to know! I really hope that maybe one day you will get to do this and that it will greatly influence those that are too afraid to address it. I know that I have learned so much from her as a woman and just in knowledge of how people treat her and others and how far the world has come in accepting gay people and having respect for them and their lifestyle. I know my opinion has changed greatly and I am grateful for that knowledge. Thank you for being so honest! I admire that quality!
DeleteGreat idea. And a much needed one. I think most people or at least the folks I know are more interested in the physical aspect of the relationship vs. the everyday aspects. Even a series of photos would be a welcomed addition to our world of art.
DeleteIt's wonderful--forgive the pun--for some people its too close to home. It establishes a connection lessens the differences.
DeleteJason, I see a similar performance being played out a few houses down from me. We have a homosexual couple living on my street who seem to be very kind. They also always say hello when I walk by and one time I overheard them arguing just like any other couple. I also have observed them doing the yard together and this week they are putting up Halloween decorations .They seem to be a great example of how a homosexual relation is played out in a positive light. I am grateful to have neighbors like them regardless of their sexual orientation.
DeleteJayson, this performance piece could be a powerful way to confront the stereotype prevalent in our culture about the gay community. I sadly notice that many people aren't interested in truly getting to know their neighbors: who they live by, who they grocery shop next to, or even ride the bus by. (And not the overly-interested creepy neighbor that peers into peoples' windows and rifles through mail boxes!). I get a lot of joy, and security, from building relationships with the folks that live all around me. How boring would it be if I never said "hi" or tried to be involved in their lives, in a neighborly way? So for you to open up your private life in order to show the reality of your day-to-day experience would be a brave move towards helping others see and understand who you are.
DeleteI love that idea! It seems so perfectly normal in a mundane daily routine, that it would be crazy that anyone would find it shocking.
DeleteJayson,
DeleteYou have an excellent perspective and idea with your "mock house" performance piece. Until you stated your perspective on how gay culture is viewed by the public, I hadn't realized that unfortunate public misconceptions of today continue. Hypothetical question here: If given the opportunity to produce a "mock house" piece exactly as you would want it, would it change the way you view living, or would it be merely an excerpt from "a day in the life of"?
As I think about what a performance piece is and what I would want to do, I think back to Helen's class and a piece we read on about how they picked up rocks from a river and carried them until they were dry and then placed them back in the river and then picked up another one, and I think about what was the point? How does this effect someone's life? It also takes me back to when I was married and spending time in the woods looking for animals and setting up deer blinds and how peaceful it was out there with out all the hustle and bustle, but there is no one to really see this. (this was before my son's father) I like Jayson, want to make a difference and change people's opinions or just let them see the truth.
ReplyDeleteI think if I was going to do a performance piece, it would have to do with domestic violence. Maybe this is because of the artwork I am creating right now and having to dig up all these emotions all over again and really and truly deal with them and put them into an image. As I face all of this, I also realize that October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. I am going back to court again this week to try to get sole custody of my son and prove to the judge the violence that is going on at my son's dad's house. I think I would want to do a piece on how much emotional and verbal abuse is just as much abuse as someone beating the shit out of you. I would want to show how you get help and how you began to heal from the damage that has been done and that life is not all negative and harmful but there is joy and there is peace and there is love. I want to show those that are still in abuse there is hope and a way out and people and resources out there that are willing to help you through the darkness and into the light. I think this would be a very strong and very emotional piece for those watching, but would hopefully help and or change the lives of those that watch.
Powerful and meaningful. I would go to your performance. And I know your art will continue to address the issue hidden behind doors.
DeleteAndrea-I would to see that actualized.
DeleteThis is a powerful performance and would love to see it. Thank you for sharing, hope this week will go well for you and your son.
DeleteAndrea, so often our society only understands wounds that they can see; "show me your broken arm" "show me your black eye" "show me your knife wounds." They don't understand the wounds that are unseen--from words cutting our character, from trust that's broken, from fear and doubt created by a powerful aggressor. I think your piece would be beautiful: to highlight the hope and peace that is possible, even as someone is trapped in the darkness of emotional or verbal abuse. I also think that it would wake up many people who assume a survivor of domestic abuse always "looks like ____" or "lives ____" or "says ____."
DeleteAndrea, I also wrote about doing a performance art on emotional abuse and oppression. Domestic violence is a very good topic to do as performance art, especially emotional abuse, it can be so subtle, yet so damaging. It is truly is one of the most difficult things to prove because of the lack of concrete evidence. It there was a way to show the damage done on an emotional, mental, and spiritual level then the suffering would be more visible. I consider it the invisible killer, because it is invisible to the naked eye. I am sure your performance art will touch many people on many levels. I hope you get custody and your boy stays out of harms way.
DeleteAndrea,
DeleteInteresting, fascinating point about the river rocks. I suppose if even in a tiny way that by placing them back into the river, this establishes a different context from it's origin. How the water washes over them and their interrelationship to one another establishes "place" on such a small scale, we may never know the true significance. Because we may not know the relationships does not mean that they don't exist.
I am saddened with your position regarding your domestic violence issue. To provide a performance piece would, I believe, provoke the public into introspection of typical domestic violence stereotypes for the better. You have a valid story that is relevant to thousands of people. It could be cathartic. Indeed, physical and emotional abuse are equal - one with physical scars, the other with mental scars. Hope and Change are beautiful words to reshape the distorted ideal.
I have a heart for those with special needs and feel that my performance art piece would be connected to them. In my performance I would put myself in a wheelchair and on the back of the wheel chair I would have the word “HELP.” I would also travel around an area that contains different barriers. Each barrier would have different titles such as physical, mental, spiritual, and relational. During my performance piece I hope that I would have someone in the audience to help me over these barriers. I would want the viewer to take special notice of the needs of those with disabilities along with recognition of their own needs and how we cannot accomplish our goals or overcome life’s obstacles alone.
ReplyDeleteHaving now worn an "air boot" for 5 weeks I have a new awareness for accessibility issues. While a caregiver for my father I was acutely aware of how people disregarded elderly, especially those who moved slightly slower, but over the years I had forgotten. This is a great idea.
DeleteVSD Part 3
ReplyDelete"Whether non-Native or tribal, we all suffer and triumph together as artists. Across racial divides, we share more commonalities than differences." Edgar Heap of Birds.
"Many artists realize that the "mainstream" is actually a trickle when compared to all the art that is being produced around the world." "The system really cares less about what I think. I do not have to believe what I am told, however, and I can move beyond the narrow frame of mind that feeds the mainstream and know that art is alive and moving all the time. We can look at art and the world of art with a wider and more embracing vision" Harry Fonesca.
"Vision, Space, and Desire" has impressed me with the myriad powerful writers represented within the cover. However, both Edgar Heap of Birds and Harry Fonesca succinctly sum up the Venice Biennale. Just like any other element of humanity--whether it be finance or government or ____--the elite top in the art world invest heavily in maintaining their hierarchy; they've worked hard to establish "what is art" and "who is an artist" and have a vested interest in keeping that narrative alive. But both Edgar and Harry hit the nail on the head: artists will create no matter what context they are working in (accepted artist, undiscovered artist, minority artist, naive artist). We don't receive our validation from the art world and what it tells us is authentic art; rather we live and work in communities of artists that help sharpen our creative senses, help us progress in our artistic ventures. I agree that we have more in common with one another than we have differences; rather than focus on what makes us different or keeps us categorized, we should be dialoguing, working shoulder-to-shoulder, and building each other.
Performance art: Recently I watched as a group of my friends (the ones I pour iron with) put on a performance art piece entitled "TITEWF" (Thumb in the Eye Wrestling Federation) for the Dallas Museum of Art's summer performance series called the PSWxEdu Workshop "Sport and Persona in Performance Art." They created video promos to pump up for the wrestling event much like the 80s/90s WWF. At the event they mixed their sculpture casting skills with layers of performance: it was a no-holds-barred thumb wrestling extravaganza, winner takes home an exquisitely cast bronze wrestling belt--it was beautiful! Had I known the winner actually was going to take the piece home, I would've jumped the ropes and thrown my thumb into the wrestling mix. I'll see if there's a way I can post the various videos, photos from the show, and the followup review on Glasstire.
I don't currently create pieces with my own performance in mind; however I feel as if every day I teach I am in the act of creating performance art. I lure the kids into a new project with images, process, and thinking. I entertain as we work our way through the project.
How crazy wonderful...thumb wrestling. What fun!
DeleteOne of the quotes that made me ponder was by the Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor, “Nonrecognition or misrecognition can both inflict harm and be a form of oppression, imprisoning someone in a false, distorted, and reduced mode of being.” (123) This is a result of stereotyping and discrimination that shatters a healthy self-image of an individual or group of people. On the subject of oppression, I have done some previous research on the effect of such negative feelings on physical health. I found myself the target of emotional abuse, more than just bullying. In an effort to cope and gain inner strength I read about Bioenergy. I found it very interesting that oppressed energies can manifest as physical pains, ailments, and blocks in the body. For example, a child that is subjected emotional abuse lets say with put downs, name calling, withholding of affection by parent, etc. will harbor all those feelings in the gut. It will become evident in the posture, and if prolonged may even lead to other ailments well into adulthood. I found this very interesting and I think I would take the idea of oppression manifesting in some kind of hindering form on the physical body and incorporate it into performance art. I strongly believe that emotional abuse is one type of abuse that can go undetected and cause much damage on many levels more than physical. Oppression can manifest in an individual and even a group of people. I also read about health and lifestyles of various generation levels of Mexican-Americans. The more recent immigrant Mexican-American is more like to drink excessively, but less likely to be obese. Second and third generation Mexican-Americans had higher stress levels and were more prone to obesity. (I must clarify that I did not get this information from “Freakonomics” but cannot remember the book at the moment). I do think there is a connection to health and oppression in both individual instances and groups of people. I have never done performance art, however if I felt I had a good idea I would consider it. I do feel like my art would need to have a strong statement, not necessarily political, in order for it to be performance art. I think performance art gives art another dimension. The viewer not only experiences the art visually, but experiences the art in more senses. As in poetry, the reader can enjoy the poem by reading it, but hearing the poet perform the poetry is whole other experience that cannot be derived by simply reading the poem.
ReplyDeleteThere is also a body of work on women/suppressed emotions/ weight issues. The entire cult we have on body image and the expectations we put on ourselves is overwhelming. I wonder what it would be like to live for a time without a mirror.
DeleteAs I write my entry for this October 12 assignment, I am very late and regret I was unable to interact with my classmates sooner. Here is my submittal for this assignment. I will also post this writing in the October 19. Thank You for your thoughtful consideration.
ReplyDeleteBefore I speak about a performance, I would like to first talk about the ideal of performance as it integrates into contemporary art. The five senses: see, hear, touch, speak, and smell are things that could, maybe should, be considered when comprising art. Performance art is but another avenue that artists can seduce the public into a higher realm of art appreciation. In my architectural background, I personally haven't created performance art through my design work. At least not that I am aware of in particular. However, I have previously interacted with a few architectural firms in Dallas, Texas years ago when the Dallas A.I.A (American Institute of Architects) hosts their yearly "Retrospect" exhibit at Northpark Mall every spring. The exhibit is a consortium of current architectural projects by various Dallas architectural firms. To engage the public for this 11 day show (usually held in April), various methods of interaction are displayed by firms, all varying with the firms' differing personalities. Each firm is allowed about 100 square feet of floor space for representation. Years ago, one firm displayed 20 goldfish in separate bowls dispersed through their work to illustrate their 20 young interns as "little fish in a big ocean". Another firm used Viewmaster stereoscopes in their display to express their world views through the photographic image reels of present and previous works. It was a child-like way of "seeing" and understanding, if we could go back as children. Another firm had reproduced their current works on a giant display of small postage stamps. This exhibit forced the public to look at the tiny details to reveal personalities of architectural design projects and design elements within the tiny projects.
DeleteWhat I enjoy about performance art is just that, it is performance, and the idea that reaction or interaction is encouraged by others. When in high school, I took theater classes to diversify my education. My son also took theatre classes in high school and had far greater opportunities than I had years ago. My son Jordan has been in high school productions of Oliver, Miss Saigon, Les Miserables, Footloose, and Fiddler on the Roof. It was difficult for him to make time with his class work, theater parts, and playing on the football and soccer teams also. He would tell you today that he wouldn't trade his theatre experiences with anything. He met students, teachers, voice instructors and stage hands that he would never have known or respected if he hadn't delved into that world of participation.
ReplyDelete
DeleteIf I were to produce a piece of performance art (based on my background), perhaps I would set up a small stage with all the architectural design materials: reference books on a shelf, computer (with plotter), work desk, wide variety of drawing materials, pin-up sketches and drawings and a big pile of discarded materials used to derive the final product. I would present an architectural project from inception to final end. In that process, there would be discarded pieces of tracing paper (from rolls) on the floor and surrounding area, discarded preliminary sketches, brown wrapping paper with masking tape still attached, watercolor and gouache color swatches/pieces strewn everywhere, mostly on the floor. The scene would look like an explosion of various drawing materials, but there would be a series of sketches and drawings neatly hung on the wall from left to right that illustrate process beginning to end. The architectural designer would be disheveled and fatigued to almost exhaustion, eyelids drooping, mind disoriented and spent. A pronounced smell of coffee as if 4 or 5 pots had been recently brewed. During the 30 minute performance, the audience would grow tired of how the designer has consumed all of his/her abilities to produce a series, a sequence of pinned-up drawings that are like a finished sculpture with nearby rock debris and spent materials to derive the masterpiece.
I do not know if I fully enjoy performance art. I have seen some while I was in New York when I was younger and at the time I did not fully understand it. Most of the things I saw, and I don’t mean to offend, looked like crap put together last minute. I know I was young and probably didn’t understand the natural meaning of the pieces but from and aesthetic mindset it was not appealing to me. I did take theatre in the 8th grade the year after I went to New York and started to understand more about performance art. Having to perform in front of people can be kind of nerve racking but I wasn’t a shy person. It was easy for me but school performances aren’t the same as a museum performance. You are more censored in school. Now that I am grown, I am still not a big fan of performance art but I do enjoy it when I get a chance to see it. I have a better understanding and respect for those that do performance art.
ReplyDeleteIf I were to set up a performance piece I would probably do one on my background. It would be about how growing up in the “bad part of town” is not always the worst thing that can happen. I would probably set up a small stage in a corner of the show and show somebody tagging a wall, the form of art that got me into drawing. Bubble letters and messages. The performer would be in “thug” clothing and the lighting would be almost dark. I would fit the typical stereotype that was given to me and others that are artist like me. Pen and paper, spray paint and a wall were the cheapest way for a kid from the “bad part of town” could draw. I would hope people would understand that the stereotypes given to us aren’t always true. We can become great artists even with what very little we have growing up. Everything is art and it is art that brings us together.