the context for this performance was very simple. i wanted to see what happens when i specifically court interactivity and intimacy in the performance space.
for this performance i asked audience members to come into a black box performance space one by one and shut the door behind them. i was sat in the space with a buzzing head shaver on a table next to me switched on. as the participant came and sat in front of i told them that they had 1 minute in the space for which i took total responsibility.
their reactions were fascinating
most did nothing as i gave them direct eye contact for a minute, before asking them to leave. a lot of these people never even made a gesture towards the razor and seemed uncomfortable. one or two did take the opportunity but rather more politely than i had expected shaved off precise amounts of hair on my back or shoulders. some sat as far away from me as was possible in their chair. careful not to touch me in any way. and some didn’t even make it through the minute when i didn’t respond to their questions and left early.
at the time of the performance i was not prepared for how little people would actually want to touch me. in hindsight this performance was possibly more confrontational than i has expected. this assumptions of peoples fear in interacting with me would be turned on its head in my next performance. the comparative nature of this next performance was massively important in understanding dynamics of writing in the space as well as the differences in group and one to one performances.
