Edging back to the physical side…

Temptation, human nature, physical stress on the body

While the comedy route felt comfortable, the idea of using the body to express a meaningful message still lingers in the back of my mind. I wish to create a more MEANINGFUL performance, something that makes the audience think and is not a direct message. A message that could be interpreted in different ways.

By focusing on Maria Abramovic, I will hopefully create a meaningful performance with an interesting message.

 

Sample:

A 10 minute intense work out, causing physical stress and pain on the body. In this state I will be completely focused.  The audience will be given a strong BB gun with a note on each one stating ‘Shoot at me’. The guns will be strong enough to possibly draw blood or show bruises.  The performance will test the natural human trait of temptation and research the violent nature of man.  I will write down the time of each shot, how many of the guns went off and where they hit me.  Each time I get shot I will put the house lights on and walk over to a piece of projection paper and write everything clearly down. At the end the paper will be projected onto the wall along with a close up projection of my wounds (if any).

The wounds would look simular to this:

Notes:bullet wounds

I would write up a description of how powerful the BB guns are making it clear how painful they will be so it’s obvious to each audience member what they’re in control of.

I will have giant posters around the studio telling the audience to fire at will.

 

Risks:

There are many risks included. Getting shot in the face (mouth and eyes) is obviously dangerous. However, I am happy to let this be a factor. Where the shots hit my body will help determine the thought process behind each one and how violent the audience member wishes to be.

The physical stress I am personally putting on the body through the intense workout needs to be body weight only. Any external heavy weights above my head could drop if i’m shot at and possibly kill me.

 

Conclusion:

Whether there are no shots or all guns are shot. I will have an interesting result to back up my intentions behind this piece. Hopefully watching me workout for 10 minutes will prompt at least a few painful gun shots towards me.  The public want to see something interesting.  Each member of the public has the power in their hands to alter my performance and gain a reaction from me. How can they pass that up?

 

Inspiration:

Marina Abramovic does something similar to this in 1974.  In a solo performance called “Rhythm 0”, “Marina Abramovic invited her audience to use and abuse her with 72 objects she laid out on a table.  Some objects could give pleasure, some inflict pain, the weapons included a gun and a single bullet”.  The audience members had a mixed reaction to this, some caused pain, some stopped others causing pain.  Ultimately, Abramovic described the experience as being ‘violated’.

 

 

 

 

Works Cited:

Halberstam, J., The Artist Is Object – Marina Abramovic at MOMA, Available at: http://bullybloggers.wordpress.com/2010/04/05/the-artist-is-object-%E2%80%93-marina-abramovic-at-moma/

North News & Pictures Ltd, [online], Available at: http://www.whatsonningbo.com/news_images/a3812b5006e66652_pellets2.jpg

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *