Therapy in a performative process

When looking at exposure as a theme, originally we saw a purely physical revelation was the best way to explore this. We began to discover than a mental vunreliabilty was something as complex and uncomfortable to be presented with and to personally expose. Through asking members of the public, the thing you would least last to be asked, we gathered a hundred questions, with content varying from sexual experiences, to physical insecurities and matters of the heart, that we opened and answered. By documenting this process, we began to find subject matters and themes in the questions that forced us to reveal something inner, to the camera, something we found uncomfortable or unsettling to answer, as well as hearing. This concept we took further, but writing questions that delved deeper into the emotions and stories provoked by the publics written questions. Over a period of time the documented change became evident, our answers became more thorough and emotive.The process presented several unexpected revelations, in the sense of learning about the other participants as well as the stream of thoughts I presented.

Our process began to become a therapeutic experience, revealing dark thoughts and experiences for the first time. The documentation of these questions were so organic and genuine, that we did not want to replicate them through a live medium. The security and acceptance installed within the group throughout the various experiments conducted throughout our process, created an environment in which we felt comfortable to release information that we felt we could never fully explore or reveal, in front of an audience. When exploring a physiological perspective on creative setting used as self-exploration, Carl, R, Rogers emphasizes the explicit link for such therapeutic process to happen due to the setting created by the other participants.

‘The directional trend which is evident in all organic and human life – the urge to expand, extend, develop, mature – the tendency to express and activate all the capacities of the organism, or the self. This tendency may become deeply buried under layer after layer of encrusted psychological defenses; it may be hidden under elaborate facades, which deny its existence; it is my belief however, based on my experience, that it exists in every individual and awaits only the proper conditions to be released and expressed.’(Rogers, 1999, pg. 351) The core conditions that we had unknowingly created;

‘The core conditions are:

– Empathy

– Congruence or geniuses

– Unconditional Positive Regard or a Non-judgmental warmth or Acceptance.‘ (Rogers, 1991, pg.351)

We felt could not be replicated in the [performance by and unknown audience. These conditions, which through varying experiments, acts of acceptance and non-judgmental traits, enabled us all to push our own exposures out and be as honest as possible. Due to the environment we had created not being easily if at all replicated we found the medium of film was the best way of capturing the essence of our answers and truths that then could be in as a scopohilic form presented to and audience. Our honesty’s and reactions where them ‘subjected them to a controlling and curious gaze.’ (Mulvey,19765, pg.186)

We found when filming the answers the other group members observing and not speaking reactions were powerful in their own right. The sympathy or disgust or surprise provoked in itself, was a performative physicalization of our thoughts. It was the body language and facial reactions that we thought was important to incorporate into our performance. Theses reactions were not manufactured and varied dependent of the person witness to the answer. We decided due to authencity of emotion revealed from the speaker and the observer was something we needed to present in the space. The live per formative element in relation to the video of our answers, were no ‘acting’ but were the honest reactions of the audience and our own responses to what we were hearing and seeing. The idea of cringing or crying or turning away, presented us in the most broken down way. This was highlighted through the space in which the piece was presented in and the time it was held for.

1. Rogers, C (1991) Becoming A Person. London, Constable & Company Ltd.

2. Mulvey, L (1957) Visual Pleasure and Cinema. Screen 16/3 (Autum)

The Naked female body and its connotations

The Naked body in its barest form is something that when covered in varying materials can be tainted and viewed differently. Luce Irigaray states from a feminist perspective that womens bodies, are ‘Socially, they are ‘objects’ for and amongst men.’ (Irigaray, 2997, pg.2) This idea suggests the female form is something objectified purely on an image based value system by males. Irigang states that the matter of her beauty decides a woman’s value. Our presentation to the naked or partially clothed form was not something we wanted to be sexualized. The connotation and feminist themes, in which our piece evoked, were although not intentional, we were aware of their place in an all female performance. We know that if we were to have had a male performer it would have completely changed the meaning of the piece, it wouldn’t have been shaped by an equality framed by our gender and would have been much more sexually suggestive by the pairing of the female and male forms put together.

We in our process looked at adding something to varying forms of nudity, which would make it less sexual. We presented the body to a group of member of the public as a canvas, in which they could draw on the changes they felt would make our own forms better. The process of drawing on our flesh made presence of the nudity not crucial, as the changed drawn on became something imprinted on our egos and insecurities as much as on our skin. This plastic surgery based trial became a challenge to the participants and at times they stated they forgot we were in essence naked and viewed our bodies in a more clinical critical way.

Similarly in another experiment ‘The human plate’ We took a Japanese inspired tradition of Nyotaimori,’ Eating Sushi of a perfectly still, naked womens body’ otherwise known as human sushi’ (Bindel, 2010, pg.1) and placed innocence into the performance. Presented to small audience groups were three partially clothed- to fully naked performers, covered in sweets. After looking at forms and the principles between food and sexual fantasies being very much intertwined in the forms of, feederism and veroraphila, we decided the food placed on the body had to be something that had to have in its own right, non-sexual associations. The direct comparison of themes were highlighted when the naked body presented so explicitly, laying on the floor of a lit studio, and covered with traces of innocent which triggers uncomfortable themes of childhood and indulgence.

Credit Lauren 11/11/13

‘The idea of placing food on the naked body is a process that is seen through varying cultures in history.’ (Bindel, 2010, pg.2) Both processes were steering away from a sexual nature by tainting the body with textures and patterns traditionally viewed as non sexual and the audiences all stated how they felt sympathy for me as I was always the least clothed. It then swayed their participants, i.e. in the human plate when given the choice to take a sweet of us, almost all the audience members went to me as they felt they wanted to ‘give something back’ in return for the bravery they felt went with the presentation of being naked. Because of the aesthetics of the human plate we began to find it hard for the naked form not to be framed sexually, as people took sweets from my body with their mouths. This sensual act highlighted how even when trying to diminish the sexual frame that we felt limited our exposure it was impossible.

When viewing Beacroft work, such as ‘Vogue’ and the instillation piece placed on the opening in the window of the Louis Vuitton on the Champs- Elysees in Paris, I felt the objectification of the female body scream out of her work. By placing naked models on shelves in windows next to luxury goods, the idea of a women being a desirable object, a possession framed in the window of such establishment was inescapable. The nudity against the leather good not only highlights the principle of ‘sex sells’ but also seems to try and frame women in the sense of perfection against such intricately designed goods. It reinstates the idea of unattainability for the average onlooker with economics, and the design and manipulation of beauty seemed intertwined when placed together. The textures of flesh and leather echoed the idea of the liquid sweet substances such as cream and chocolate placed on our own skin. The bags themselves became ‘sex fueled’ due to what they were placed on and around.

Beecroft, Espace Louis Vuitton, 2006

Lauran Mulvey stated this as she states that females ‘With their appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impact.’ (Mulvey, 1975, pg.8) Therefore the act of removing clothing and makeup used to make one more sexually appealing, such as red lipstick and high heels still became erotic. Although we wanted to break down ourselves to its most bare and human, the act of removing clothes with people watching in it is unavoidably a ‘visual pleasure and narrative cinema.’ (Mulvey 1975, pg.7)

1. Irigaray, L (1997) From this sex Which is not one. Ithaca; University press

2. Bindel, J. (2010) ‘ Iam about to eat Sushi of a naked woman’s body’ The Guardian, 12th Feb, [Online] available from http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/feb/12/nyotaimori-eating-sushi-naked-woman accessed on the 7th of November

3. Mulvey, L (1975) Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema. Screen 16/3 (Autum)

Your eyes can reveal almost anything about you.

During our experiences in experimenting, we found the eyes played a very important part, some audiences thought that by having our eyes closed, we looked more vulnerable, for us it was a way to keep safe, I felt as though if I couldn’t see them then they couldn’t see me either. It was during our performance we decided to keep our eyes open, closing them only at times we couldn’t bare to see the audiences reactions. I no for me I felt embarrassed, looking at myself on screen bring completely honest and truthful, hearing darker parts of my life, knowingly revealing them to the audience sometimes became to much at other times I would keep my eyes open and look directly at audience members, this was to gauge their reaction. At the end of the performance my eye contact became an act of defiance, throughout the experiments, the filming and the performance my vulnerability increased. As progressively I would reveal more of myself physically and mentally. Within the last few minutes I gained a bout of confidence and this is where I had the confidence to look people in the eye to defy and challenge.

Fig 1. Marina Abramović ‘ The Artist is Present’

Marina Abramović at the Museum of Modern Art performed ‘The Artist is Present’, a silent performance, where she invited audience members to sit opposite her and look into each others eyes and remain silent. This was something that inspired our experiments of having our eyes open or not, we decided it should be natural, not something that we made a group decision on so it became ‘part of the performance’, we decided that if we did what we felt was right then it was part of us showing our vulnerability.

Fig 1. Available from: http://www.theartfuldesperado.com/a-life-lesson-by-marina-abramovic-and-ulay/

Final changes, experiments and influences…

Leading up to our final piece, the group created many varying experiments, an influence for the ‘sweet’ experiment was ‘Cut Piece’ by Yoko Ono which was first performed in 1964 and was a show of Destruction in Art Symposium, the ideology behind this ‘was to focus attention on the element of destruction in Happenings and other art forms, and to relate this destruction in society’ (Tate.org.uk, 2013). She achieved this state of destruction by requesting audience members come up on stage and cut away at her clothing until she was naked. I feel that this is interchangeable with the concept of vulnerability and exposure within our piece, and I feel the simplicity of ‘Cut Piece’ should be visible within mine.

‘Cut Piece’ has helped inspire one of our main experiments, in which we invited the audience members to come and take a sweet from 3 bodies showing various stages of nudity and in turn various stages of exposure and vulnerability. I wanted the piece to highlight to the audience that the vulnerability shown through the body effects the decisions the spectators make. The atmosphere felt within this experiment, is something I want my final piece to exude; a highly charged atmosphere. After the performance, the reactions of the spectators were recorded and there was a significant similarity throughout all of the recordings, that being that they took sweets from the naked person. This was because they felt sorry for her, highlighting how her vulnerability affected the way they acted throughout the piece. This idea of creating a reaction towards my vulnerability is something I want our piece to exhibit.

A second influence for me would be SNNG’s ‘Untitled Flesh’. Within this performance four girls are naked, and are seen to be vulnerable through their nude state. However, it can be argued that they are also strong through this vulnerable state. The strength within our performance will come from our vulnerable aspects, the strength to become vulnerable. Much like us they have ‘insisted that there is more than one layer to ‘nakedness’ (Cheng, 2002, p.253.) Focusing on multiplicity, like this group my performing naked is tantamount to exploring the process of vulnerability and exposure within society.

Much like a change in ideas, our performance space has changed direction from a public space to a theatrical space. However, I don’t want to use this space in a theatrical manner, I want to produce an piece of live art within a theatre and change the audience’s role to that of a spectator, free to interact how they like in a simplistic installation piece. Shaughnessy explains that ‘The role and experience of both the spectator and the community in which the art is produced is central to the re-evaluation of efficiency in these relational and participatory practices and encounters’ (n.d, p.xvi.). Taking this on board, I want to change the perceptions of theatre, i want the space to become a place where a ‘real’ portrayal of vulnerability is possible. While portraying my real vulnerabilities, i also want to create an aesthetically pleasing intense and intimate environment in which a clock image is used to indicate to the audience that something will occur during the two hours. This will therefore create a sense of anticipation and an atmosphere that will be intense and focused on the piece.

Clock example:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sY0qCaMkO0Q

While creating an aesthetically pleasing piece, it became apparent that the use of the space is essential in the final performance, the piece will contain six girls, with each of us breaking down barriers to reach our individual states of vulnerability. Furthermore a projection of the six girls reaching mental vulnerable states will intensify the atmosphere. The audience within the piece will be free to walk around and sit down. In terms of props, there will be an inviting settee. However, the audience will have to walk through an uncomfortable setting to reach the one comfortable element within our piece, that being the settee.

Works cited

Cheng, M. (2002). In other Los Angeleses. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Shaughnessy, N. (2012). Applying performance. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.

Tate.org.uk. (2013). Art & the Sixties, exhibition themes, Destruction in Art Symposium | Tate. [online] Available at: http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/exhibition/art-60s-was-tomorrow/exhibition-themes/destruction-art-symposium [Accessed: 27 Nov 2013].

Exposing our Mental & Physical Vulnerabilities

Mental:

In order to transfer our own personal mental vulnerabilities to the space, we developed one of our past experiments and integrated it into the piece. The Experiment consisted of asking other people to write a question based upon when they felt most exposed and vulnerable. After doing this, we then at randomly picked a question and answered them honestly. No one knew at the time not even ourselves what kind of questions and answers we would gather. Questions such as ‘When was the last time you had sex?’ and ‘What dress size are you?’ were picked out and answered truthfully. In reflection to the first time we did this some questions did not make me personally vulnerable but others did. For our final piece, we then decided to integrate the idea of showing our mental vulnerability through simple questions therefore, we got together a selection of questions from the experiment and questions we wrote, sat down in a vulnerable space and filmed them.

The most interesting thing for me was how much I personally would let people know about my life. It was one of the hardest things I have done. It was challenging, to answer questions that truly made me feel Vulnerable. For instance, a question that hit a nerve was ‘Have you ever been mentally or Physically abused?’ As I read the question, I was visibly scared. No one in the room knew what I was going to say, I myself never thought I would be even talking about something that happened so long ago. Its not a question of me answering it. The whole project is about what makes us ourselves feel vulnerable and exposed. This question did. Physically I was shaking as I spoke, mentally as soon as i spoke the words there was no going back. I had to explain the whole story. It was a challenging thing to do, but at the time of be sharing my ‘secret’ made me the most vulnerable I have ever felt. The reasoning behind putting it into the main performance was because we were exploring our own vulnerabilities. I like all the members in the group have exposed so much of our lives, for everyone to see. Although on the day, I know I will be more conscious that other people hearing one of my worst memories to date but I would like to think it will translate that we are all human however big or small our problems are. Something that makes me feel exposed and vulnerable does not necessarily mean it would be the same for someone else. In my eyes it represents what we are trying to portray in the piece. The more you expose yourself through your thoughts and insecurities and you breakdown every boundary, only then you can be truly feel vulnerable.

Physical:

How can we make ourselves physically vulnerable? We conducted an experiment at the beginning of our process where we looked at our insecurities and marked on our bodies what we would change about our physical appearance if we could. We then invited people in to honestly draw what they would change about us. Some as expected were more honest than others. This was testing in its self because we had to expose as much as our selves as we could. Personally I could only get into shorts which came to my knees and my bra because consciously I couldn’t bring myself to take of anymore clothes. One participant in the reflection at the end even said they would have rather have been in our position than theres. Which I find the most interesting. We exposed as much as we possibly could at this stage. At the time, I thought that was all I could do it was more of my mental boundaries stopping myself from taking off any other clothes. I felt exposed around some people I knew, so at that stage I was feeling anxious and vulnerable even before we got the date of our performance.

The next question was how could this be translated into the space? The answer, through live performance. On the day, we shall make ourselves, in front of an audience the most vulnerable and exposed we can be. This will symbolise physical vulnerability, we shall take our clothes off and expose our barest and most exposed forms. The idea of getting ‘naked’ in a studio for a performance in front of an audience can and is daunting. But for us to physically show exposure and vulnerability ourselves doing this is essential. As six twenty something women, all representing different body shapes, exposing our bodies to a 21^st century audience could not be more nerveracking. Each person with their own insecurities in one place at one time, pushing their own personal comfort zones. Exposing their physical imperfections and dislikes is very rarely seen within society.

One main influence for our physical representation of exposure, comes from Vanessa Beecroft. She created a performance called VB45, in which she had many models and actors exposing their bodies to an audience. ‘Most of the time, these women are naked, wearing shoes and make-up only, to appear as if they were stripped and wear a naked uniform, rather than being naturally nude and free. ‘ (Shapiro, 2008) This links into our performance in the physical representation as it looks at what it means to be physicallyu vulnerable. By the end of our performance, we do not know what our physical representations will be. But hopefully by pushing ourselves, we can physically show our vulnerability. This should also been seen through our body language.

The piece like Beecrofts will be unrehearsed. ‘Without rehearsal, the women always address the audience in a conscious way’ (Shapiro, 2008) The permance essesscial relies on our personal representations of mental and physical exposure and vulnerability. We have all the right materials on the day we will be ourselves and it depends on the atmophere we create in the space. We will will not be actors, every reaction in the final perfromance is our own emotion.

Works Cited

Shapiro, D. (2008) VANESSA BEECROFT Interview by David Shapiro. [online interview] http://www.museomagazine.com/VANESSA-BEECROFT[Last assessed 11 December 2013]

Nuditate

Vulnerability is basically uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure.

Experiments