For my performance art project, I wanted to explore the theme of practice, and our interpretation of ability. If you tune into any form of media, such as the news, a show, or even social media, you’re bound to find people of extreme ability in some way. We often idolize these people, and seek to become just like them, at least in how well they can use their craft. Many of us see these absolutely amazing things that these people can do, and of course, we attempt to imitate. But we fail. And many can’t accept that, and decide that they are just not cut out for it. This leads me to what we have forgotten. I feel like a lot of us forget is that this ability, this talent, that so many people have in their pursuits, has been gained not through intuition, or just “being born with it,” but hours of daily struggle and improvement. These people have sought out this ability day in and day out, and have found it. Sure, you could say that some people are more predisposed towards certain abilities, such as those who maybe never needed training wheels, or just started drawing on their own as kids. But that hasn’t stopped the majority of those who actually have passion in their study to pursue what they love, and become great at it. In order to showcase this idea, I chose to record myself skateboarding. When I was younger, I once wanted to become a professional skater. I would watch as many videos as I could of awesome skaters, who seemed to be able to do the impossible without breaking a sweat. But I couldn’t. I always got so frustrated when I couldn’t land a new trick within a day. This actually lead me to have a burn out, and I ended up not skating as much as I could have because of how angry I was. However, what I always forgot was many of these pros spent complete days and weeks just mastering one trick on their board, day in and day out. So, for my project, I set up a space so that I could record myself going back and forth in one area, attempting to learn one trick, the 360 flip, or tre-flip, over and over again. I did this every day for thirty minutes, six days in a row, so that I could show my progress and how much time can really be spent learning a new skill. I named my project ‘this time,’ because that is what I ended up telling myself every time I went to try the trick.
P.S. Sorry this is a bit late, my computer ran into problems exporting, and I had to do a computer reboot.
P.S.S. You may notice that my video is a bit edited. Upon reviewing my original video, where I just sped up my recordings in order to fit the time frame, I realized that you could barely see me doing anything, instead you would only see frames, catching a glimpse of me mid-trick occasionally. Because of this, I edited the video so you can see each trick individually.
