flailing but hopefully not failing

Caity ❀ 19 ❀ Australia A blog for my Creative Arts course at La Trobe University.

[quietgrumblynoises-blog]

'Touch Sanitation'

'Touch Sanitation' was a project undertaken by artist Mierle Laderman Ukeles over the span of eleven months, although the entirety of the work ran from 1978 until 1984. (1) The social practise piece involved Ukeles shaking hands with approximately 8,500 people that worked in sanitation in New York, as a way of saying thank you to people she believed were terribly undervalued. “I’m not here to watch you, to study you, to analyze you, to judge you. I’m here to be with you: all the shifts, all the seasons, to walk out the whole City with you.” I face each worker, shake hands, and say: “Thank you for keeping NYC alive.” (2) Before this project, there had been never been such huge involvement in an artwork by a public service agency (3).

I feel as though this piece carries a very important message- in our constant push for progress, the people that carry out all the menial tasks in the lead up to the completion for something are often overlooked. In Ukele's words, 'The people who were taking care and keeping the wheels of society turning were mute' (4). By involving each one of these workers personally and taking care to record each and every one of their conversations, (5) Ukeles gave them a voice and brought validation  to their hard work. Rather than simply being a work to be viewed, 'Touch Sanitation' is a collaboration between artist and audience, in some ways an example of social practise art.

Ukeles strove to highlight and emphasize the worth of every person within the sanitation department. Her greeting via handshake worked effectively in countering the image of sanitation workers as dirty and not to be touched- after all, she focused on the those hurt by the inability of the public to draw distinction between those who create garbage and those who take it away. (3) I love the concept of this work- it revolves around the idea of stripping away cultural perceptions, in order to understand and appreciate each person and what they truly do for society.

(source)

References

(1) Krug, D, Green Museum article, Mierle Ukeles Flow City, posted in 2006, http://greenmuseum.org/c/aen/Issues/ukeles.php (2) Ukeles, M.L, Brooklyn Museum website (piece description), Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art: Feminist Art Base: Mierle Laderman Ukeles; Touch Sanitation, date posted unknown, https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/eascfa/feminist_art_base/gallery/mierle_laderman_ukeles.php?i=1111 (3) Unknown, Ronald Feldman Fine Arts Gallery (press release), Touch Sanitation Show, 2007, http://www.feldmangallery.com/pages/home_frame.html (4) Ryan, Bartholomew, 'Art in America' magazine, Manifesto for Maintenance: A Conversation With Mierle Laderman Ukeles - Interviews - Art in America, March 20th 2009, http://www.artinamericamagazine.com/news-features/interviews/draft-mierle-interview/ (5) Justin,?, Broken City Lab website, Touch Sanitation & Maintanence Art: the Work of Mierle Laderman Ukeles : Broken City Lab, February 18th 2011, http://www.brokencitylab.org/notes/touch-sanitation-maintenance-art-the-work-of-mierle-laderman-ukeles/

[quietgrumblynoises-blog]

Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present

From March 14th to May 31th of 2010, Marina Abramovic held an exhibition at MoMA (the Museum of Modern Art), titled "The Artist is Present." (1) Within this exhibition was a performance piece of the same name, wherein Abramovic sat at one end of a small table and invited audience members to sit across from her and meet her gaze in silence for as long as they wished.

I've chosen to discuss my thoughts on this piece since I find it really original and thought provoking. Most gallery displayed artwork is very much a distanced, contained exchange between artist and audience. The artist creates and displays their work, but for the most part do not experience the impact it has on people that wander past. The audience views a work, and their reaction is largely internal. They see- in general- rather than interact.

In Marina Abramovic's work, however, the walls between creator and viewer are non-existent. They become near-intimate with one another, and this happens in no piece as strongly as it does in, 'The Artist is Present'. While Abramovic originally had no high or low expectations for audience participation, (2) some of the people that sat across from her were so affected that they began to cry.

This work really challenges the conventional definitions of art and ideas about how we should view and understand it. As Abramovic herself asks, "Why is this art?" (3)

References

1. http://www.moma.org/visit/calendar/exhibitions/965

2. http://www.moma.org/explore/inside_out/2010/06/03/marina-abramovic-the-artist-speaks (second paragraph)

3. http://www.popmatters.com/review/164718-marina-abramovi-the-artist-is-present/

[quietgrumblynoises-blog]

Bartholomew Fair : a review

Rating ✭✭✭✭☆

First performed in London in 1614, Ben Jonson's, 'Bartholomew Fair' was recently performed as part of La Trobe Student Theatre and Film's 2014 Moat Festival. Incorporating some contemporary elements, this version- directed by Trent Baker and Rob Conkie- was set in a Melbourne night-market. The show ran from March 7th to the 16th.

Last Sunday I had the pleasure of attending the final performance of 'Bartholomew Fair' at La Trobe's Moat Festival. The night began in the Union Building, but the setting soon shifted down a walkway and into the Moat amphitheater, which had been designed to look as if it were an actual fair. While the first segment indoors maintained a strong distinction between audience and actors, the moment we exited the Union doors, this invisible boundary line was broken. Suddenly I was no longer a part of the audience, I was a part of the action. I was on my way to Bartholomew Fair, following Adam Overdo as he raved to me about his plans, and wandering past lazy guards and drunken fair-goers.

As it progresses, 'Bartholomew Fair' whittles further and further away at the fourth wall, until it completely demolishes it in the final act, with audience and actors alike gathering around a smaller stage to witness a puppet show being performed at the "fair". It was nothing short of delightful to be seated next to Bartholomew Cokes as he guffawed and shouted his way through the exasperated puppeteers performance, to be brushed down by suspicious security guards and poked at by an impertinent cutpurse.

The energy, spirit and involvement of the audience are 'Bartholomew Fair's highlights. There was hardly a dull moment; between the exaggerated accents, slapstick and running stream of jokes, it was very easy to be swept into the action- to lose yourself, in the very way Cokes does. However, this is not to say the performance was without faults. On occasion, the dialogue moved too quickly for me to comprehend, between the style of the language, accents and sometimes the distance of the characters from the seating, which made it difficult to catch some words, or sometimes entire lines.

Elements of absurdism were littered throughout the piece. From Ursula to Purecraft to Quarlous, each character was overplayed and closer to a caricature of a person than a realistic representation of someone you would meet on the street, and the scenarios they ran and stumbled through were quite melodramatic. Chaos and disorganisation reigned and ruined, with disguise, dishonesty and confusion being commonly touched on themes. The fair itself also seemed to reflect surrealism, in that it was about the removal of morals and judgement, about being a place where actions occurred simply as dictated by ones stream of consciousness rather than the common belief of what is acceptable. It's very similar to the concept of surrealism as "thought, in the absence of any control exercised by reason." (Breton, 1924)

When the final act of 'Bartholomew Fair' came to a close, cast and audience mingled and inter-merged, becoming the one large crowd. It was a mess of people costumed and otherwise, noisy and chaotic, still smelling of meat and beer. It was the perfect summation of everything 'Bartholomew Fair' presented a carnival to be, a mixture of people from all areas. It was most definitely worth the night out, and my congratulations to the entire cast on pulling off such a diverse production!

Breton, A 1924, Surrealist Manifesto

Image from the La Trobe Student Theatre and Film's 2014 Moat Festival 'Bartholomew Fair' Facebook page.

[slowartday-blog]

Chiharu Shiota, In Silence [Biel - Bienne, 2008]