Project Proposal
My piece for Beyond Black Box White Cube titled; I am a Law-abiding citizen, will consist of me performing abstract movements for the state, within the frame of a CCTV camera, illuminating that I am in-fact a law-abiding citizen. The piece aims to depict how the government's insistence that we should all be under constant 24hour surveillance, as to encourage us to regulate our behaviour to their standards, infringes on one's personal ability to pursue individual freedom and be anything more than their puppet. The performative aspect of the piece shall take place outside the Edward street campus for 24-hours, split over two days, and will be shot on the CCTV camera that looks down onto the road from its position on the first floor. The footage of the performance is to be viewed live, during either of the 12-hour sessions, in a constructed setting that resembles an office where a security guard would watch the feed, but can also be observed in person if the spectator ventures to the location revealed by the camera.Â
The piece itself is a political development on the 1971 film, by artist John Baldessari, titled 'I am making art.' In the film, Baldessari performs a variety of movements while declaring aloud that he is, in fact, making art. Baldessari's piece was a continuation of a statement that several radical, conceptual artists in the 1960s were making; art was not just that which had traditionally been considered to be art but was, in reality, anything created by an artist. This meant all people, including Baldessari, could create whatever and it would be deemed as art. Where my piece expands upon this idea is through its collaboration with the postmodern theories of Michel Foucault. Foucault's work methodically deconstructed the relationship between knowledge and power and where the systems of our society have begun to abuse them. In his book, Discipline and Punish, Foucault discusses' in length how the penal system has become deceptively more inhumane as it has implemented new types of crime prevention. One such Inhumane tool of crime prevention is the mass introduction of state-owned CCTV cameras. In Foucault's eyes, the government ran CCTV camera is no different from the hypothetical prison system, designed by philosopher Jeremy Bentham, The Panopticon. This type of prison system isolates its detainees from their detainers, using pervasive power through representations of state force, instead of actual state presence, to encourage prisoners to regulate their behaviour. While this regulative system is arguable in its use on convicts, it is downright disturbing in its use on the general public. It assumes that we, the public, need to, like those who have committed crimes, be encouraged to behave under threat of punishment. This infringement on personal freedom is often met with the saying "if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear," but this statement, and those who say it, miss the point. The judicial system states that we are all innocent until proven guilty, not the converse, and so a government that oppressively regulates the public to "behave" has already concluded that we are all already guilty of something. This is why, for my piece, all actions performed, for the eyes of those in power, shall be met with the statement "I am a law-abiding citizen." A reminder that I am, in fact, a law-abiding citizen. And not dissimilar to how Baldessari's actions are followed with the statement "I am making art."Â
My artistic intention is to use the collaboration of CCTV and the medium of video art to illustrate the absurd nature of such state presence, and the performative response most make when caught within the eye of a CCTV camera. The reason I decided upon the subject matter of state oppression and individual freedom, is not only because of my current reading and interest on the matter but also because I noticed recently that an overarching theme in all of my pieces is that of control, or a lack thereof. In previous works, I have discussed the theme in a more personal sense. My lack of control over another's perspective of me, my lack of control when it comes to my mental health, my lack of control when it comes to someone I love's well being. But with my last piece, the collaborative project, I ventured away from the personal to discuss the global phenomenon of lack of control when it comes to our planets well being. Discussing such universalities is, of course, personal, but creating art that isn't so self-centred allowed for a deeper connection with the audience and that bought with it a new sense of purpose for me. I do not wish to create art to please everyone, but I would like to create art that can speak to anyone, not just those with similar experiences. And so with this current project, I intend to achieve just that by discussing the surveillance intense world that we live in and how we have begun to normalize the use of pervasive methods of force in our day to day existence.Â
The way that the audience interacts with my piece is by performing the role of the state. They, hidden from my view, watch a live feed that displays my performance so that I never absolutely know if I am being watched, justifying my act of self-regulation. This is then a similar response to the desired effect the panopticon has on prisoners or the desired effect CCTV has on the public. This implies that the audience's interaction with my piece is essential regardless of their presence. If they chose to watch, then I am performing for them the role of a law-abiding citizen, and if not, then I am regulating my behaviour just like they the state have asked. What I hope the audience gets out of the piece is a realisation that they have normalized an unnecessary, and ultimately absurd thing, that demolishes any chance they have of ever being their true, individual, selves.
This piece is new to me in its collaboration of performance and observation, not to mention duration. I have performed in my own work before, stripping down for my documentary module piece, but I have never performed the role needed for my film in public, able to be seen by all. That and I have never created a piece that allows the audience to come and go as they please, as most, if not all, of my films, have been confined to their existence on the screen. Even in the collaborative piece where the screen was torn to the ground and destroyed. These ventures outside my regular method of practice are, however, exciting. I have admired many performance art artists; Joseph Beuys, Vito Acconci and Carolee Schneemann, to name but a few, and so I find it only natural that I too go onto utilizing performance to create new and innovative work. Going forward I see this piece giving me the courage to try other art practices, while also being a platform for me to explore performance art further. I also Believe that this piece could very well be my first, well informed and conscious, piece of art. Able to be held in high regard, by myself and perhaps others, within my portfolio of work.














