Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Reflections of Performance 3

*Video Coming Soon*
Distortion Through Plastic

Performance 3 was a very new experience for me. I felt like I was definitely putting myself on the line. I was inspired by the idea of breaking out of the frame, as well as distortion of the image of the body. I started out covering my old mirror frame in tin foil, so that I could leave impressions of myself in the frame before I scratched it open to emerge from the frame. The morning of the performance though, I looked at it, and realized that it was too easy. All I would have to do is simply run my nail down the foil, and breaking through would be a simple task. However, historically, women breaking out of the frame has clearly been much more of a challenge- we are still talking about it today! Knowing that, I wanted to do something more endurance based. I ripped off all the foil on my frame, and replaced it with a cut up plastic garbage bag. This would allow me to really distort my image to the audience, as well as create a much bigger struggle when trying to break through.

I had a couple difficulties when performing this piece. First off, my frame was definitely too small. I knew that going into this project, but I used the materials I had. The frame was not big enough vertically or horizontally. My frame was also slightly broken I started this piece. I thought that by taping it together, it would hold for the performance. Unfortunately, the plastic bag did such a good job or restraining me, that instead of the bag ripping, the frame broke. I felt like I could have gone for longer if my frame did not break, which would have emphasized the endurance aspect of my piece even more. Finally, I was unsure of what to wear for this performance. I went simple, and chose a nude color top with black pants, but I'm not sure if that was the best choice. Should I have dressed up more to fully embrace the idea of femininity and women breaking out of the frame? Should I gone even more basic? These are questions I have to figure out for Live Art Night.

I was very nervous about this piece. I tried talking about it to my friends who aren't in this class . They all thought it sounded weird (some said artistically weird though, which gave me some hope). I knew that squishing my face against a plastic bag would look strange, maybe even be uncomfortable to watch. I don't usually put myself out there like this, it's a very new experience for me. This class is helping me feel more comfortable about my ideas and doing the weird things. Its new, and I like it.

5 comments:

  1. I really enjoyed this piece. I thought the distortions through the frame with your face were fascinating and I could have watched that for hours, I was a tad worried about your ability to breathe though. It might be cool to consider using an actual picture frame (goodwill or blick may ave really large ones), both from a structural standpoint and a thematic standpoint. I also preferred it when you didn't use your hands to push through and focused primarily on the face. Good work!

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  2. I really like your idea of women breaking out of the frame, and how you literally broke through a frame. I also liked watching your face, squished up, moving against the plastic. It was funny, but a little disturbing at the same time. For some reason, it reminded me of the creation of orcs in "The Lord of the Rings" movies. But, that has nothing to do with what you were doing. I also really liked the endurance aspect of your piece. It looked really hard to break through something so thin. I can definitely see how you would be tempted to use your hands to help break through. If you were to re-create this performance, I think that it would be cool to have a large, square frame (made out of stronger wood) that would cover your entire body. Then you could use your whole body to break through. I liked how you dressed simply, but I also like your idea of wearing something that embraces your femininity. I'm imagining some extravagant, feminine costume, with a simple, black frame.

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  3. oh i am enjoying the comments and your reflection Alycia. STRONG work. Very strong. WOW cannot wait to see the video. Is the image you posted your image??? wow!

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  4. all i think about when i rethink this performance is if you had massive, room-sized framex and multiple in a row with say, 1 foot, of space in between them. to see someone struggle through plastic with every ounce of their body would be facinating. for the resources you had though, you did great. It was bizarre and oddly aesthetically pleasing but as this class has tended to go, you should remake it bigger and more and absurdier.

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  5. This piece I really enjoyed. It made me think of birth. I also enjoyed the details you changed during your live night performance. Does bigger = better. The struggle was so real with your second performance and I am glad you tore through till the end. I had my fingers cross for you. I wonder what would happen if the frame was bigger. Also if you had different colored plastic, would be interesting to see. I think you did great, keep going.

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