for my latest performance i sat naked in a glass box for an hour as a recreation of skip Arnold 1993 performance On Display. my performance was called (always) On Display. see picture for original
this was my blurb
“…the surface concentration on sexism is an excuse to dismiss the art. It’s ok for gays, lesbians and women to display their bodies but not straight men. Straight men are accused of egocentrism, exhibitionism and exploitation…’ (Warr, 2006: 85). Quoted in reference to his body based performances, Skip Arnold’s work has asked complex questions of the boundaries between the artists body as agent and its function as site (Warr, 2006). This performance is an interpretation of his seminal 1993 piece On Display and asks a simple question;
Given the same conditions would my ethnically marked body be accused of the same egocentrism, exhibitionism and exploitation ?
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reactions post performance (unedited text, written after each performance)
Day 1
The first bit of hapenstance in my performance came from a necessity to time the piece. As ever with my performances I find it very difficult to end them. If they have had a definite end in the past, its been at the behest of my audience, who need some sense of closure/conclusion. This was specifically true of my version of yoko Ono’s cut piece in which my audience left the space en mass after I was naked. So for this performance I gave myself the practical envelope of an hour for the performance. As a last minute decision I decided to time this with a large classroom clock. the clock in my line of vision became my companion in the piece and I came to rely on it. It became a way to ground me in the performance giving me a feeling on tangibility outside my box. It became so important in fact that if an audience member stepped in front of it I felt disorientated.
A bit of the performance that stood out was when I was surroned by three women. Next to m performance space was a drinks table and during my performance at one stage I was surrounded by three middle aged women with wine glasses looking at me. One of them raised a glass at me and I felt a definite shift of power. I was no longer empowered by my nudity but instead to be viewed. These women were clearly comfortable with my nudity and with a drink in hand their navigation of the space took on a decadant air
As ever there were different reactions to the performance, some people came into the space and at a glance left again. Clearly made uncomfortable by the nudity. Others were much more leisurely in their appraisal of my body/space. But clearly this was a transitory quality to the performance as know one felt the need to stay even though I was there for over an hour.
Something I didn’t expect was the lack of oxygen in the box. I had set myself the task of being in the box for an hour and it became very hard to remain calm as my air ran out after 15 minutes. But I stayed in. This was by far the hardest part of the performance as my breathing got heavier. This was a durational aspect of the performance which would not have been evident to the transitory crowd
Towards the hour mark the box steamed up. This began to obscure my body from view as condensation settled on the inside of the box. What did this do for he view from outside?
Glad I put the most clearly tied description on the front on the box as for many people this was all that they saw. Many did not go around the box to see all of the descriptions. Also I’m glad that I was facing the audience at they came in. What would happen to their confidence if I had my back turned to them?
Day 2
Im actually glad that I did the performance twice, its a useful way to catalogue differences across performances. It might actually be use full to do this as a succession of performances at a specific time and date for a week.
What I took away from he feedback was that I could possibly look to re-stage this performance in a venue that might elicit a greater range of people. Or to be specific what if I did it in birmingham?. What if I did it in south london? What if I did it in Branford? What happens to the relationship between view and viewed what my audience is asian.
In performance I found it very hard to actually keep my focus today. Not sure why but it felt very difficult to hold my position when know one was there on the second day . I was not at nervous and even contemplated eye contact in the performance. I decided against it as I felt this would be too confrontational and I wanted people to navigate the space and see all sides of the box.
Far less people came today. This was not inherently a problem but I felt less inclined to perform my position.
The arrangement of the space also struck me today . Because of the way it was set up I had warning people came round into the space. They may have been struck by my naked form, but I had time to prepare.
This was a relatively safe performance as I was accusing my audience of something. And race is a very difficult issue to engage with. People are tentative and respectful. Which makes me want to take advantage. Ask what is locked in this tentativeness. See what im allowed to get away with. And if I should be allowed to be offensive?
-Documentation-
The idea that I have had for documentation in relation to this performance and whiteness is a way to make my asian skin the median. A comparative baseline around which other skin tones are organized.
I was thinking along the lines of photographing a group of people. One on one with mine and their bodies in the picture. Then organizing these photos into a colour chart with lighter skin at one end of the scale and darker at the other.
There are inevitable questions that arise. For example
Q-How are the photographs organized?
Either a chart going across a gallery surface- here there is an interesting dynamic where in I would put the lighter skin tones to the left of the space and darker to the right. Form a western tradition the participant would be inclined to go left to right. From a muslic/asian perspective I would be inclined to go right to left, as when reading the koran. Shake with the right hand, left hand is dirty etc…
Asking the question, what is unlocked by the way in which the participant navigates the piece?
-or-
How about a circle where the skin tones lighten as they go outwards. This isn’t quite so linear but what is the effect of this cyclical construction and what does it say about how the documentation is navigated?
Q-Why photographs what is the social/cultural material presence of a photograph and how does this factor into your overall message?
There are practical reasons for doing photographs. But if i’m using them my analysis of whiteness needs to acknowledge the medium itself. Not sure how this connects yet.
Q-How is this tied to this specific performance and not a performance in its own right?
Its about positing a new baseline and asking my audience what it feels like to be categorized. Also I could make it more tangible by photographing photograph the people who come to see my performance. could do it again and set up a mechanism where by before the leave they take a picture with me in the space and these pictures are then organized into the collage.
Q-What position are you in, how are the bodes interacting in the photographs?
This is a possibility because it has a history in art, engages in complex issues of race and has been discussed in relation to ‘whiteness’.
But this feels like a new performance. Is that documentation?
