So because I was in the box, I was not checking my phone and as a result my two guests ended up going to Spencer Art Building. Somewhere at the intersection of my shows usually being there and me referring to it as a gallery of performance work, meant they spent the afternoon wandering around that cavernous hanger on the other side of campus. Here are my impressions from my perspective.

First of all, for me personally, given my perspective in relation to the exhibit itself, it was really interesting to see the way in which people moved about the space. There was definitely a lot hesitancy, a sort of dance around both the box and the pieces in general. I would say one of the most interesting moments was when everyone stopped in their places to watch Kimmy’s performance. I couldn’t even see the performance but I could also see the way in which people as I moved to look around at them through the holes in the box people would look back or I would catch them looking at the box in relation to Kimmy’s performance.

Also, much like sheep, people very much had to be lead to put their head in the box. I think there was this consistent issue of choice and in fact people really only did what they were compelled to do. Through the holes I could keep track of people who did and did not participate in the box and I think there is a lesson to be learned here about guiding. When you make something the only thing you can do, people will do it.

Personal Thoughts:

I…can’t comment much because I didn’t actually get to see any of our showing. I couldn’t enter the room at all during the “museum gallery” phase,  otherwise I’d spoil the grape costume, and a vinegar costume wouldn’t have made any sense.

So uh…just from the planning stage, I was hoping for a little more cohesion? That’s a lot to ask for considering we threw the ordering together within three furious hours, but there was nothing resembling a unified theme ~ which I think is more than fine for a first showing, but perhaps we should do more focused work from here on out?

Thoughts From 1st Friend:

“It was a compilation of things that I don’t think are related, but maybe they ARE related, but if you look hard enough maybe you’ll find a relation between all of those. I assume. Not something I was willing to do.”

“What struck me was that a bottle labeled ‘taste me’ was enticing enough for people to taste. You don’t taste things that you don’t know what it is or you don’t know who drank it. It could be anything. Did I drink it? Absolutely not.”

“I guess I’d let someone feed me if I knew them…and if it wasn’t bread. I did not accept food from the mysterious nude Christmas lights man. He was laying on the floor. That wasn’t right.”

“I got the sense that a lot of it was symbolizing different types of struggles that come with established structures. There was one about how not everyone has an equal chance in society, the criminal justice system…one about religion. I think it was about how these establishments are unfair…although if you don’t think they’re unfair, you might not see it that way.

“What kind of questions does this piece provoke? Everything in the system is broken. Everything. Maybe not the sewers…the sewers get a B-.”

“What did the artist achieve? That’s weird because if it was a group of artists I don’t think they were all trying to achieve the same thing.”

“I’m pretty sure the piece mostly felt cautious. I was cautious of being blinded by lights. Cautious of random substances. Cautious of watching a video where you watch a video with a shower that is clearly on. What if it was a naked person? It wasn’t.”

“If there’s no question about the pokemon cards, the pokemon cards were unfair. Tell me who, anyone, who would trade a Dewgong for a Zapdos? Who would do that without context?”

“I thought the opening was trying to create a sense of reliance on societal cues around you. Like, there was a part where people started clapping, and I felt a need to also clap. But why were they clapping? Why should I clap?”

“I thought the grape thing was really good, but I like puns. Maybe people who don’t like puns wouldn’t even notice, they would think about the actual message. And the message isn’t that puns are great, the message is that society has problems. But puns are great. I think it’s hard to view seriously when someone comes out wearing weird purple clothes. No way.”

“Federalist papers? We were all reading different things? I was just focused on getting through it. You all fall into a trap where you’re all just saying stuff. I guarantee you that nobody knew what they were talking about. I voted nay because I didn’t know what was happening. Can’t vote yae to something you don’t understand.”

“Albinism? The weird balls? I got it. People are different.”

“The person going around doing graffiti? No idea what was going on. But people were laughing. Was it supposed to be funny? There was a lot of laughing at things that weren’t funny. This is what happens when you have people in things. If you plucked people from North Adams there would be less laughing. I guarantee it. Men’s Wearhouse.”

“Law and Order? Great. But it relates to one of my classes, so maybe I’m biased. If people had put themselves in the seat of the girl who was crying, maybe people would understand how hard it is to talk to someone who is yelling at you when you can’t yell back.”

“…People are very trusting in that they put their face in a box when they don’t know what will happen afterwards.”

“I went into the closet that had a sign on it. Apparently there was a another closet that did not have a sign on it, so I didn’t know to interact with it.’

“Go see Zootopia, out March 4th.”

Thoughts From 2nd Friend:

“I think of the grape/raisin performance and the constitution one, those are the ones that come to mind.”

“Kimmy’s performance was the most overtly political by far, and so I was trying to figure out how it related to the other pieces and the room.”

“Using humor to talk about serious things or serious things to talk about humor…I’m not sure which is which whoaaaa. I guess…what it means for people to be laughing at the things you’re saying and what it means to incite that reaction. Yeah. That’s a reaction.”

“…I just like the visual of it [the Federalist Papers.] Just the imagery stuck with me.”

“I remember Bailey’s box…I…Bailey’s my friend, so I was trying to sorta make him break a little bit. Like, make conversation with him, which is not what you’re supposed to do I think. So…that relationship, audience disrupting the performance.”

“If you have the performer in a place that’s very accessible to you and you’re comfortable interacting, then uh…”

“How many things did I eat? Just a piece of bread. I was wondering though, were there gluten free options? This was an ablest performance.”

 

 

My Thoughts; what worked/didn’t work

• the whole thing seemed not necessarily too long, but too disjointed and with too much “dead air” in between– there were these awkward lull periods between performances and because the structure was so loose and story line weak, it was hard to keep people; i noticed people leaving throughout the event
• it was better when we gave people things to do than let them just do whatever because many would get confused and didn’t feel comfortable participating; the things that invited people (enter here, drink this, etc) worked well; also things where we directed them without words created a similar, open environment
• people were confused about “the point” or the general motifs or “story” of the show; I think there needs to be more cohesion or at least natural transitions
• In doing Carina’s juxtapositions, it didn’t go as quickly as we wanted because we had to go through one door–perhaps if we were to do it again, we’d fine 2-3 routes we could take people into the same space so there is less waiting around inside the gallery space
• people were gathering around the david carter reading–i wished we’d had a picnic blanket or something
• I think we made an good event given the little time we had to put it all together, but more time would have proabably helped with cohesion.

Friend’s Reflections; what worked/didn’t work

• Bailey’s box was strange and weird, and one person liked the piece (and in general likes the pieces that made them feel a bit disoriented and uncomfortable); my other friend was freaked out by it and did not want to be fed bread
• They both liked being led and blindfolded into the space with music and clapping
• The student films felt very “student filmy”– they did not particularly like sitting and watching videos or the genesis room
• the Syrian Refugee Crisis was confusing–they weren’t sure what they were watching, and because it wasn’t on the schedule, they were confused if it was a part of another performance
• there was an awkward lull after many of the performances where they didn’t know what to do (and neither did we, it seemed), so perhaps more clarity and intention would help in the future
• favorites were omar’s slam poetry, law and order, carina’s juxtapositions, david carter story, bread box (one person)
• Kimmy’s piece didn’t really resonate with one person ( I think the new viewing circumstances may have affected the impact), and the albinism seemed strange and out of place for the other person.
• Thought the federalist papers piece was uncomfortable in the bad way because people were just speaking over each other and they didn’t see the point in the whole of the show
• The gallery showing was too long. One person wholy preferred the live performances to the gallery showing, the other liked the gallery too.
• they could not find a connection between the pieces and did not know how they were related
• In general, they both thought it was a really cool experience
• One person thought the show was too long

 

My thoughts:

I felt the opening worked well- having everyone led in one at a time set up the rest of the showing as something out of the ordinary, and different than they may have been expecting. However, I think it did lead to some confusion as to what they were supposed to do after their masks had been lifted. I think it very quickly moved from a more personal experience to an overwhelming sensory stimulus.

 

There was also a bit of aimlessness in the museum style- it worked well, for some exhibits, such as the video in the closet or Sophia’s story, but there was a hesitancy to really sit and and observe something. I felt people very quickly moved through different pieces and then were left standing around with nothing to do.

 

This made the live performances much more valuable I think. Everyone had arrived prepared to be more traditional audience members, so they were really ready to stand and watch Kimmy and Omar perform. I also enjoyed the diversion of the live performance, and almost wished we had had more going on throughout the room (not as separate events) so that audience members would have had more chances to engage with actual people, and to participate in something for a longer period of time. Interestingly though, I feel that Bailey’s piece suffered with people approaching in ones and twos- I think we got more out of it by watching the faces of those who were getting fed bread before us.

 

Other’s thoughts:

Interestingly, most people who participated in the Federalist Papers voted Nay in my final questioning. One person who came suggested that was because the Federalist Papers had come after Kimmy’s and Omar’s performances, and so people were less inclined to ratify a Constitution that at the time really only supported more well off white men.

 

I had one person come who was very confused as to what was going on for most of the presentation and so was unsure how to interact with the objects or fellow audience members. They likened it to a modern art museum with interactive exhibits. They also found some of the live performances easier to connect to in comparison with the other pieces.

Personal Reflections

• I really thought the “Human Again” piece worked really well as the introduction to the whole showing. It worked very well given the amount of people. I was very surprised to find that no one actively stopped participating by taking off their blindfolds or sitting down, etc. They went along with it to the very end.
• The beginning of the exhibition was really chaotic. At some point, I remember hearing all the exhibits kind of coming to life at once and hearing barking from one place, shouting from another, reading from one, music from another. It felt like a very very distinct shift in tone from the “Human Again” piece to that–which maybe worked or maybe didn’t for each particular audience member.
• I think spatially the exhibits were organized really really well! The room felt like it had a natural flow. Not in the sense that the objects all shared a similar goal, theme, relationship, etc, (because that wasn’t our goal) rather, it just all worked together in the space correctly. Also, all the performances seemed to work very well in their adjusted locations.

Guest Reflections

What Worked/What Didn’t Work

• Bailey’s box was a draw. One of them did enjoy it (mainly “because I got food.”) while the other one did not even approach it because she felt really uncomfortable about “him just wearing underwear and no shoes.”
• Omar’s Enraged Edibles was a hit. They both thought it was funny, but also very poignant in the way it addressed/handled issues “we’ve all learned of and have been exposed to.”
• Other notable favorites were Paige’s “Adam + Eve” video and Phoebe’s “Law & Order” performance.
• Carina’s Syrian refugee crisis performance was a source of confusion for both of my guests, but it was interesting to watch/listen to them try to figure out what it meant because after about 5 minutes of bouncing ideas of each other they decided that it had to be about the Syrian refugee crisis.

General Thoughts

• The performances were better than the objects. They felt more important or pressing than the static gallery pieces especially if they had to get moved around from location to location.
• They enjoyed the performances and being moved around much more than the free time in the gallery because it felt like it gave them more purpose.
• Preferred having clear instructions on what they had to be doing either by being moved around for a performance or by seeing a sign. One of my guests was willing to interact with anything and tried to see it all. The other guest was only willing to interact with objects that had explicit instructions like “watch me” or “taste me”, but not with the more abstract or unguided ones.
• “I didn’t know if we were allowed to interact with each other or talk in the beginnin.” But after a while they both agreed that they felt more comfortable doing so. And after they talked to people, they felt more comfortable doing different things and seeing the objects.
• They had no clue what our (the class) role was in the whole thing. Were we actors? Were we showing them how to interact with things?
• They felt like it was too chaotic early on, but that things mellowed out as they went along.

My thoughts:

– For the time we had to put it together (all of 3 hours, basically), I think that it went well. However, I do think that some things were clunky/awkward…but I think that with more time and planning we’ll be able to get things back to where they need to be.

– I loved the beginning. I think it was so strong the way that the audience was brought in in silence with blindfolds on, and the way we were able to make them stay put without having to use explicit instructions. Going from the relative silence of the back hall to the too-loud space was great. The energy was high, and the audience was ready to be involved.

– People were definitely afraid to DO things. They weren’t sure if they were supposed to walk around and touch and play. This caused me to want to encourage them by saying things like, “Have you tried blahblahblah?”. But then I felt like a car room show person and was confused about my relationship to the audience. Overall, I was unsure of what I should be doing.

– From my perspective, the more hands-on things worked better than the more passive things. For example, I think that people (once they got over their fear of moving around) liked interacting with Bailey’s box, watching the Genesis movie in the closet, going outside to watch Carina’s performance, and being involved in the Federalist Papers bit. That being said, I was surprised — but it seemed like the videos DID NOT WORK very well. With all of the commotion and noise, I felt like people didn’t want to sit down, put headphones in, and watch videos. It took them out of the experience too much, in my opinion.

My guests’ thoughts:

-The things that mainly stood out were: Getting applauded (inversion of normal performer/audience roles), David’s piece, Kimmy’s Black Panthers piece, Genesis video, getting into the elevator, getting fed bread.

– They were often left unsure of what to do, but the unclear boundary between actor/audience member was interesting

-The experience of being one of the first people with the blindfold on standing in the room got to be kind of old (because you end up standing in the same spot for 5 minutes without anything to do)

-Loved the really participatory pieces — but again, wanted to be involved in the more passive pieces which wasn’t as exciting. So essentially, the rules were different for some pieces and that was hard.

-What was powerful was the potential both the performers and audience members to do anything at any moment

 

My thoughts:

Some things seemed rushed and some things seemed too long. I also felt really awkward about having nothing to do for a lot of the time; it was like there was this gap between the audience and us because we were in the space but not necessarily participating in the newness . For example, during the beginning when everyone was masked, a lot of us were laughing and becoming spectators. Because we were so interested in audience reactions, we were both the performers and the audience to them.

A lot of my thoughts now are more centered around wondering where we go from here. I’m excited to clean things up and discover what we are trying to say. I also think we could take more ownership of the space and make the whole thing a complete place rather than having table-to-table experiences.

 

My friend’s thoughts:

Just to preface, I don’t think these reactions are necessarily bad or good, I’m just trying to record what they said. Although both of my friends really liked the opening, one preferred things they could explore on their own time while the other preferred group experiences where they were explicitly led somewhere. They both seemed a little hung up on trying to figure out what the “theme” was or what we were trying to say, to the point of frustration. Our (the class) presence also really confused them because they didn’t know if we were acting or not while we were just walking around the crowd, like it was unclear what was a performance and what wasn’t. On that note, there was disappointment about not seeing things because they didn’t know what was happening.

Other thoughts:

• felt like a museum until being lead around
• a lot of confusion about what they were “supposed” to do
• good vibes in the federalist papers room
• overwhelming except in dark room when there wasn’t other things going on
• “hard to care” because so many things were happening and there was a disconnect between separate events, especially during leading portion

 

My reflection:

• I think one of the most successful parts of the event was the beginning. Bringing the whole audience into the communal experience of being blindfolded set the stage (excuse the pun…) for the entire performance. However, after taking the blindfolds off, people were unsure of what to do next for a really long time.
• I loved the museum aspect of the whole thing. It probably went on for a little too long though. We had to adjust the timing to drive things forward.
• What were we (the class) supposed to be doing? Are we performers even when we’re not performing? How much do we guide people versus letting them just do their thing?
• This was a radically different experience for the audience doing these things (being blindfolded, being fed bread, etc.) with people that they know than it would have been if the performers were total strangers.
• My albinism performance ended up happening on the opposite side of the elevator because everyone got in the elevator with me. The performance felt like total chaos to me but everyone I talked to found it really interesting.

Questions people had:

• Is part of it improvisation?
• How much were we allowed to break the rules? Should the rules exist at all?
• Was there an ending?

Things that stuck out to people:

• Bailey’s piece
• Kimmy’s bark
• Omar’s performance – dealt with substantive things in a quick amount of time and was so funny
• Being masked and applauded for
• Sophia’s piece about all the sad things that happened to David Carter
• Paige’s video in the closet – “Woodbridge: A Love Story”
• Scott Lewis trying to help Carina
• How far away Carina was from us
• The elevator door opening and closing
• The albinism piece passing through the elevator
• Albino character was sexual (having participants represent my parents, mentioning testicles) but also sincere…
• Connection between genetics and identity

Themes:

Testing the limits of theatrical surrender-

going up to the grids/ being in darkness/ anger/ tasting  or smelling with eyes closed/ prodding the desire to intervene

Mythology-

Icarus/ Arthur/ Orpheus/ Genesis/ Sophia’s Chaos + Creation/ Origin of Love/ Bailey Jesus

Others’:

Bailey’s Roman Ritual

Carina’s Syrian Refugee Crisis

Paige’s Feng Shui

Sophia’s Chaos Index Cards

Molly’s Origin of Love objects

Mine:

The almonds thing and the Secret History recording thing

 

MADE BY OTHERS:

one of Maddie’s stories: the artwork with arrows, Ghost drawings, and dialogue—all these disparate elements—it was interesting to see where they come together, and the connections were different for each of us

Bailey and the Bruja—childish story, some of the objects were humorous, but also touching. Pop culture to represent this story (the tumblr).

Bailey’s Show Don’t Tell Hiccoughs—such a crazy experience to represent the v simple thing that is hiccoughs

Kimmy’s Sisterhood—maybe I’m just really attached to the SOFTP series, but I loved the way that, for me, the people in the class representing these characters actually just become the characters—these tropes are also us

THEMES:

The audience as the performance—Sarah’s Show Don’t Tell Federalist Papers, my Juxtapositions, Omar’s Show Don’t Tell how to read music

Tension between the literal retelling of a story, and abstracting the story into a concept or experience. Examples of the former: Bailey’s scene from Secret History, Maddie’s Katniss, Gabrielle’s story of the Three Dates, Phoebe’s Harry Potter scene

Examples of the latter—Bailey’s hiccoughs, Gabrielle’s Juxtapositions, my Show Don’t Tell

Bad stick-figure drawings—Sophia’s simple black and white pictures, Maddie’s Ghosts, Kimmy’s FRabies, Phoebe’s cartoons of India

Downward spirals—Paige’s (50 objects), Gabrielle (50 objects), Sophia (50 objects—River)

Maps—John’s Juxtapositions, Sophia’s (50 objects), Molly’s ELI5

MY OWN PIECES:

Show Don’t Tell—it was really challenging for me to make a piece that could in any way represent the gravity and complexity of the Syrian conflict, and I still feel like there’s a lot of ideas there that I want to explore.

Juxtapositions—what I made felt like the beginning of something that I want to expand on. I felt like this piece failed in the ways that I set out for it, and I want to make it better.