CROSSING - PERFORMANCE ART PIECE

Artist Statement:

In devising this piece, I kept thinking about the concept of crossing over. I constantly hear “Remember to look both ways!” in the back of my mind every time I encounter a street crossing. I think it’s a remnant from when I was a kid learning to ride a bike. 

Sometimes, even if you look both ways, something bad still happens. Sometimes, you won’t look both ways and nothing will happen. Sometimes you’re on the sidewalk when your life changes…sometimes you find yourself in the middle for the street. All we can do is look both ways and hope for the best. I wanted to convey that tension in my slow deliberate head movements. I wanted to unsettle the viewer and make them uncomfortable with me in the middle of the street - poised as though I’m ready to spring into motion - but remaining absolutely still except for my change of focus.  

In this piece, I am wearing the clothes I would normally wear running (when I cross many streets). The actual action of the piece was slightly longer than one minute, but this is the condensed version. 

Art Project #4: One Minute Performance

Art Project 4: One Minute Performance

Title- Sometimes

Sometimes I want to talk with an accent even though I do not

Sometimes I want to stare when I should not

Sometimes I want to live my dreams when I can not

Sometimes I want to yell when no one else would not

Sometimes I want to cry when I must not

Sometimes I want to be me when I ought not

Sometimes I want to ask for help but I could not

Sometimes I want to laugh but I have not

Sometimes I want to tell a stranger they are beautiful when I know I will not

Sometimes I do it anyway

Sweet Dreams:

My goal was to contrast these very painterly scenes against something that is trying to more closely resemble reality. I wanted to embrace the ideas of dreaming and anxiety and how they interact with one another. I wanted to focus on these instances of creativity as sparks throughout the day, remnants of dreams, as the contrast with reality.

Sources:

Ohayo (2008) 

To Encompass

To Reject

To Transform

To Seclude

To Engross

To Merge

To Admire

To Crush

To Slump

To Break

To Will

To Shine

To Burn

To Inspire

To Encourage

To Breathe

To Defenestrate

To Abhor 

To Gaze

Artist Statement:

I went back and forth between a couple of ideas for this assignment. I was interested in exploring the evolution of someone or something over an extended period of time. I decided to go with Akira Kurosawa’s use of weather throughout his films. It’s present in every single one of the films and something he continually developed over his 50-year career. Turning it into a sort of trademark of his. Such uses include adding dynamic motion, enhancing the atmosphere, or even reflecting the moods of his characters. Giving him a unique style that no one has come close to mimicking.

One Wonderful Sunday (1947)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kxAwYvgrAo&t=413s&ab_channel=CineAntiqua-filmescl%C3%A1ssicos

Rashomon (1950)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkDhQVUKkyY

Ikiru (1952)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umLtGRl_WE4&ab_channel=FilmStruck

Seven Samurai and Red Beard (1954 and 1965)

Personal DVD collection

Dreams (1990)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKEbzA_UGtQ&t=55s

Music

To Encompass

To Reject

To Transform

To Seclude

To Engross

To Merge

To Admire

To Crush

To Slump

To Break

To Will

To Shine

To Burn

To Inspire

To Encourage

To Breathe

To Defenestrate

To Abhor 

To Gaze