Thursday a.m. Idea Post 09/10

Taking into consideration all of the comments I have received since my last meeting blog posting, the majority agreed that I need to maintain control of my performer in terms of their clothing but I should release them in the act so they can interpret with their own minds. However, after starting my subject, object, duration exercise, I am now feeling more confused as to where I am trying to get. In the past, I have not paid much attention or put much importance on whom the subjects of my pieces were. Also, the costuming has just been more of a blending method so the subject would not stand out from her surroundings; I did not want that to be a distraction. I began writing down people that I encounter on a daily basis as subjects, but then I started thinking those characters seemed arbitrary when the point of this exercise was to figure out why I do these performances. On the flip side, because of these bizarre and random subjects I was choosing, I did find an entrance into a new idea that I had not thought of yet. I imagined having subjects and objects in juxtaposition to each other; like having an uncommon act for one of the subjects to perform. On that point however, I am still thinking what would possibly work for that. I know the possibilities are endless but having too many options is my problem. I am finding it hard to work through the obvious to get to the acts that would be the most clear and strong.

After seeing Robin Rhode’s work and doing a good amount of research on him, I want to bring more of a comical aspect to my work. I am thinking that using my juxtaposition idea with the subject and object I could bring that humor into my performances using that direction. What I really liked about Rhode’s work is that he was able to use simple tasks and make them have meaning when it was all said and done. It was not just an act that was done. They were acts that symbolized his feelings about the past and present state of his home country.

I hope to include these thoughts in my next performance and also to incorporate an idea from one of my classmates on my last meeting posting. She suggested that I use a specific sentence and give it to my performers and then let them go from there. Basically, use their own judgments and capture the different directions they all take these prompts.