Performance Art Workshop

I like what Annette said about a sunset being objectively beautiful but that art is something else.

I loved the mindfulness of the practice. I like the idea of getting into oneself, the environment, a shared consciousness with those around us. It’s a shared experience and yet individual. I like the idea of trying some of the ‘exercises’ we did at the beginning before painting to see how this affects the work.

It allowed an interesting forum for self-reflection. There was a point when holding a position at which I felt self-conscious.

I felt we were getting back in touch with our primal senses and responses, getting grounded. There was an absence of logic.

Would I have behaved in the same way if I had been the only one in the room. Probably not as the machine changes depending on how many parts are present, the more people, the more variables. There was a relief in being part of a bigger body.

At some points I noticed I would think of doing an action and someone would exercise it. I imagine this was to do with us being in a shared environment with a shared energy and similar stimulus.

The energy varied throughout the practice but felt fairly neutral. I think it climaxed as people were moving faster and making more noise.

The practice bought up some interesting notions about language. We communicate with so much more than just words and yet we place so much importance on language. Perhaps technology has exacerbated this. Technology provides a useful form of communication but can be a barrier to reading people beyond language.

I found there were elements of comedy in the practice that were enjoyable. There were moments that felt a little surreal and I found myself smiling.

It bought up interesting questions about east and western philosophies, Brecht, the conscious and unconscious. Questions of in and out, ying and yang.

Within the context of painting, I thought about the part that senses played. Whether drawn to someone else’s painting primarily through the senses or allowing oneself to work primarily through senses. Painting as a form of performance, just responding to the environment. What limitations would I set in such a context? Colour palette? Materials? Paradoxically perhaps, there seems to be a control in actively choosing to let go. Observational drawing is never just visual, it is also a response to an environment, activating senses, emotions.

The practice provided a platform to evaluate social/cultural constructs, consider the presence of the artist, the authentic moment and the vulnerability of a moment.