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.