#performancetheory

Brock Reynolds, Artist Reflection 

Engaging in a performance, that utilizes your body, your voice, and/or other creative talents, to work through social issues, that either pertain to you, or to the other bodies in your company, creates a spiritual connection that is unmatched. You begin to feel more invested into the research, as you leave the “lab” humming, or find yourself practicing choreo in random social settings. You start to watch the world through a performative lens, that reconstructs and decodes, the violence and injustices we witness throughout our lives, as poses and gestures, that are deliberate signals, developed from a system of power and fear. Objects become props, and sounds become the soundtrack, to a story that is bigger than us, but includes us. Whether we chose to perform, becomes irrelevant, we were born into this chorus.

Three drawings for Inverse Performance Art Festival performance upcoming in Arkansas next weekend

https://www.facebook.com/inverseperformancefestival/

http://www.inverseperformanceartfestival.org/

thoughts for it:

Pathway Dependence >>> we gotta get out of this state >>> How do perceived iterations of "performances" influence each other when mimetic replication of task is (de)liberately re-oriented towards becoming an absorbing state? Can temporally-located and embodied perceptions of accumulative, iterative concept (in this case "performance art") generate an emergent operativity that can be perceived as a "transformation" of operations as such? Strange Attraction>>> Across a spatially, conceptually and temporally-dilineated field, an attractor (in this case "intentional performance") is an array of activities and consequences ("system values") into which a constructive/accumulative process tends to evolve. System values that get close enough to the attractor remain close even when disturbed or intentionally altered: the frame, the system, and the context embrace: an absorbing state of strange and chaotic equilibrium emerges, or not?  

Initial research topic: Does grace still exist in today’s artistic gymnastics?

As a passionate recreational artistic gymnast for six years, I have been following and noticing the change and development of artistic gymnastics in the floor and balance beam events. What used to be known as graceful artistic gymnastic events during the 1950s to 1970s is now known to be powerful and full of difficult tumbling sequences on both the floor and balance beam. Thus, audience today have raised remarks that artistic gymnastics has lost its grace and artistry, for it being too heavily focused on performing powerful and difficult routines. I therefore would like to question whether there is still artistry in artistic gymnastics from the year 2010 onward. I will be doing so by comparing different sources from various aspects - psychological, physical and practicality of the competitive gymnastics world.

Ever since Nadia Comaneci’s first perfect 10 (the highest score for artistic gymnastics in the 1970s is 10.0) is accepted in 1976 for her uneven bars event, other gymnasts have been attracted to the fame and sense of perfectionism of getting the “perfect 10″ too. The chase for perfect 10 is encouraging gymnasts to constantly strive for perfection by performing more difficult and powerful skills that were less seen in the 1970s before Comaneci.

One of my sources mentions how rising perfectionism in elite gymnasts is being observed in the competitive gymnastics field too. Krasnow and his team defined “perfectionism as the setting of excessively high standards of performance... The scale provides an overall perfectionism score from five primary dimensions: Personal Standards, Concern over Mistakes, Parental Expectations, Parental Criticism, and Doubts about Actions.” (Vol 3,  Journal of Dance Medicine & Science, 1999).

One limitation of this source is that it discusses how increase in perfectionism increases rate of injury in elite gymnasts, therefore not completely supporting my research question. However, what I could do is to find other sources that compare the relationship between perfectionism and gracefulness in artistic gymnastics.

In my opinion, the chase of perfectionism in gymnastics is mostly affected by personal standards and concern over mistakes as these will cause deduction in their score. The only possible way is to come up with more original and difficult skills so it increases the overall difficulty score, which is relatively more fixed than the deduction score. More difficult and powerful skills means more complex tumbling sequences but the focus on simple dance details, movement transitions and musicality might be decreased. An opinion given by Bruno Grandi, president of the International Gymnastics Federation, he said “too much of its acrobatic part and not too much artistry... Gymnastics is artistic gymnastics, the definition I don't want to lose."

Take a recent work movie/book/work of art/song.etc) and apply a postmodern analysis to it.

E.g. Does it blur the distinction between high and low culture? Is it playful? How? Does it reject boundaries between genres, time periods etc? Does it reject traditional narrative structures?

HAHAHA I was having trouble finding what I want to write about, but suddenly this photo appeared on Facebook a couple of days ago so I thought it might be quite interesting to write about it since it’s nonsensically hilarious to me though I’m not very sure what it means exactly hahahaha! It makes sense in a way that makes me go “hmm oh yeah” but to explain it in words can be quite challenging hah! Anyway, since I would like to explore more on visual arts too, so why not take this opportunity to? :P

Again, it is obvious that this meme has a reference to Van Gogh’s Starry Starry Night by simply looking at the background (oh God, I need to know art beyond Starry Starry Night lol). What is “different” about this version is the random addition of Batman reference XD It is punny, lame and nonsensical at the same time because what is the relationship between Van Gogh and Batman? Batman was not even exist created when Van Gogh finished this painting. So, simply judging from the “painting” itself, this work makes no sense. Why is the Batman even there?

Ok, so as I was researching for more information, I managed to find something. This painting is titled The Dark Starry Knight. LOOOOL

*just because I miss Scooby Doo*

Back to Batman-Van Gogh, postmodernism art suggests that its ideology “reflects widespread disillusionment with life” (visual-art-cork). While this painting does not accurately depicts artist’s disillusionment with life, it does suggests, to a certain extent, that he/she isn’t impressed by the original one-and-only Starry Starry Night. Thus, the artist decided to be playful and add humour to the painting by inserting Batman reference in it.

It is also arguable to say that the artist is trying to engage more audience to know more about one of Van Gogh’s famous works by putting Batman in it since both works are created one century apart.

Therefore, the high vs low culture:

The term "high culture" is often used by art critics when trying to distinguish the "high culture" of painting and sculpture (and other fine arts), from the "low" popular culture of magazines, television, pulp fiction and other mass-made commodities.

With reference to this painting, we can argue that the artist is trying to blend/blur the distinctions of both cultures together by putting both famous art/hero figures in a work together (to attract more ordinary consumers) -- it does not reject boundaries of time period.

The additional of pun, “I must gogh. Gotham needs me.”, also makes the photo itself more hilarious. Translated to normal English words, it means “I must [go]. Gotham needs me.” Gogh, referring to Van Gogh’s painting; Gotham to Batman. I suppose this is to target young readers today on the Internet as a form of entertainment.

Watch Lady Gaga’s MTV of “Born This Way” and give a response to its portrayal of gender identity.

Describe in your own words what you think Lady Gaga’s view towards gender identity is.

Lady Gaga is known for her support in LGBT rights worldwide even before her singing career. This has also reflected in some of her songs. Born This Way is actually inspired by Carl Bean's 1977 gay disco anthem, "I Was Born This Way." and Lady Gaga uses it as a reflection of her support in LGBT rights.

I think Lady Gaga’s view about gender identity is to love who you are and what do you think you are, gender wise. It should not be a sin to anyone if he thinks and wants to be a female and vice versa. This is reflected in,

No matter gay, straight or bi Lesbian, transgendered life I'm on the right track, baby I was born to survive

...

Don't hide yourself in regret, Just love yourself and you're set I'm on the right track, baby I was born this way, yeah

She encourages individuals to believe and love themselves as who they are and one should not be insecure and worried even if society treats them otherwise. The constant use of “born this way” also emphasises that individuals should not feel and be sorry of their own gender identity that is shaped not by their physical aspects, but environmentally or biologically (sometimes hormones is the contributing factor to homosexuality and bisexuality). Lady Gaga believes that we all have the right to choose what we become and this is the way we are born. Hence, she also tries to deliver the message of having love and equality to everyone regardless of their gender identity to her audience.

Does the music video reinforce or contradict the idea that gender is performed?

Personally, I feel that the process and product of creating the music video can be considered as a performance itself about gender identity.

The costumes that appeared in the music video are used to highlight feminine and masculine physicality of the gender’s body. Hence, a bikini-looking costume for female performers and vest and pants for males.

The video editing and heavy exaggerated performative make-up are also reinforcements of how gender identity is being performed. Similarly, the dance steps are rehearsed and then performed in the music video, which again stresses the performativity of gender in this video.

Would Judith Butler agree or disagree with Lady Gaga?

I suppose Butler would agree with Lady Gaga because both agree that gender (identity) is nurtured and it changes as we grow up due to various environmental factors. One’s gender doesn’t solely based on their biological and physical aspects.

If you could re-make the MTV, how would you do it differently and why?