as a spectator / a reader / even as a performer
you may have many expectations in relation to what someone will present / show / talk
in this particular case _ here and now _ you probably are its bringer __ you probably thought about reading or watching me during fifteen or t welve minutes and then next __ it’s the time and space you have programmed yourself to become my audience __ and _ after that _ i will become part of you _ and see another people presentations you expected me to have and show visual ex amples of performances _ to explain them and that’s it _ it’s done but maybe to talk about spectatorship _ i
_ or better _ we will need more than that
it would not be possible to address this presentation only by reproductions2 of parts of performances _ ie photos or video documentation of few parts of the performance _ and talk about it as i was there _ as i’ve been there as part of the audience _ like we’ve been there or even as we were there in this present time __ it would become a mere description of fragments and not of the performance _ but of its documentation _ rather than being a reflection of the spectator point of view in the performance
for instance _ many shows that we think we’re part of _ or spectator of it _ we’re not _ we’re the performer that watched it online or live or post-live
some of the examples i could address _ even if i watched it live or not _ it would not be possible for you to distinguish _ you would not be able as my audience _ because you were not the audience of the performance i could show _ but of my presentation thus i could propose to do a recreation of these actions here and now _ where you could become not a spectator _ but something else
however the same applies if we do the recreation of these performances that i had chosen _ the performance we would be doing wouldn’t be the actual performance that have been made __ not even a recreation _ because it’s impossible to repeat the same action as it was two times _ same if it would be with the same audience _ on the same space _ with the same duration _ the mood has changed _ the performance is unrepeatable under the same circumstances
in this way _ i thought about doing a performance with these references on my mind _ an appropriation _ after all _ we’re part of the reminiscences of the performance we saw or we know __ they’re also part of our research and practice _ directly or indirectly _ and we share these multiple references through associations and dissociations in others performance that we see it’s this complexity of appropriations _ influences and fusions that builds a spectatorship _ and that can be turned it into something else
i want to allow you to be your presentation too i want to allow you to bring your actions too i want to allow you to become your performance too
of course _ saying this _ i already imprisoned and conditioned you to follow my rules _ instructions or whatever it is you want to call them how could we still make this happening without turning a spectatorship into a dictatorship _ without turning instructions into commandments by the artist to its audience __ i mean by freeing or transforming the audience to be into something else how can it still be authorship __ how can it still be spectatorship __ how can it still be a performance how can it stop from being a dictatorship how can they/we establish a relationship out of that
is it possible to work without an audience is the spectator really free to interact or to produce any or many actions in the piece or are they still obligated to follow some rules _ or as some artists prefer to call instructions/ principles4 artists could say the audience has the choice to leave or to not interact _ but they have no choice of interaction in other ways
in the artist is present _ a women who was part of the audience couldn’t be naked _ and then _ when the audience walked through the exhibition _ the performers were naked __ why could they be and the spectator couldn’t for instance _ another person from the audience couldn’t be with a mirror in their face _ the public couldn’t use a mask _ even though marina was using one __ she was using a mask of an artist that already become something more than that _ a star _ an icon and an idol _ perhaps not in a positive way
5
same with many others pieces _ same as the addressed as radical performance _ rhythm 06 _ when marina placed seventy-two objects on a table and the public could only use those objects and not others __ the audience is still always influenced by the artistic proposal __ or not __ or why
maybe this relationship at the same level is hard to establish what would even mean having a relationship where both parts put the same amount of effort on it __ maybe relationships are about give and receive _ experiencing and to experience from many perspectives _ maybe relationships are about being active and passive _ or versatile __ the question is _ can the artist and the spectator be versatile __ can they change positions _ can they put questions over those positions _ and can they challenge the dictatorship _ between a dominant and a dominated __ what’s even being dominant and dominated7? can the artist be total passive __ or be total active (dictator) what turns something into performance art __ the space _ the stage _ the position _ the hierarchy or our mind __ or all of them
maybe it would be impossible to do a performance giving all the space to its spectator _ to its audience _ because the space is already planned by many other people maybe the exercise we have done in the beginning of the class could become a performance where everyone is the performer and the spectator of each other we’re all performers or we’re all spectators __ or in this case _ both were we performers and spectators of each other actions in the exercise of the beginning of the class __ is it possible to consider the exercise as a performance each person had a rule that helped to construct everything that a performance needs
AN EXERCISE WITHOUT NAME OR CREATOR 01 _ place your body on the floor 02 _ touch and make various positions with the body of the person on the floor 03 _ touch everybody in the room as many times as you can (count them) 04 _ be the host of the room 05 _ be the guest of the room 06 _ create a scenography in the room 07 _ play some music
08 _ touch and feel the space around you 09 _ sit in a chair and look to the other person eyes on the other chair 10 _ sit in a chair and look to the other person eyes on the other chair 11 _ place your stuff as a mountain at the corner of the room 12 _ stole the stuff placed in the corner and built a square in the room 13 _ make sure you save the date 14 _ explain how the art world stole your virginity without saying any of these words 15 _ write a name to this exercise 16 _ write a name to this group 17 _ write a snyposis of this exercise 18 _ write a critique about this exercise 19 _ imagine your eyes are a camera and capture the exercise 20 _ close your eyes and listen 21 _ draw what you see 22 _ pick a piece of paper and cut it 23 _ fill this paper with an action and do it 24 _ apropriate someone’s movement 25 _ be a performer 26 _ be a spectator 27 _ be a spectator of the spectator 28 _ try to guess who is the performer in the room 29 _ try to guess who is the spectator in the room 30 _ try to guess who is the spectator of the spectator in the room
CONCLUSION OF AN EXERCISE WITHOUT NAME OR CREATOR 01 _ a object (perhaps a wagner schwartz) 02 _ a choreographer/theatre director (perhaps an augusto boal) 03 _ a toucher (perhaps a fan of wagner schwartz) 04 _ a host (perhaps isabel lewis) 05 _ a guest 06 _ a scenographer 07 _ a music reproducer
08 _ a room checker/toucher (perhaps a club ecosex member) 09 _ who sees / is seen (perhaps a marina abramović) 10 _ who sees / is seen (perhaps a second marina abramović) 11 _ a corner lover (perhaps a félix gonzález-torres) 12 _ a robber (perhaps a fan of félix gonzález-torres) 13 _ a save the date responsible (perhaps a mischa badasyan) 14 _ a explainer of the fucking art world (perhaps a clayton pettet) 15 _ a name giver 16 _ a group name creator 17 _ a synopis creator 18 _ a critic 19 _ a camera-person 20 _ a good listener 21 _ a drawer/designer 22 _ a perfect cutter (perhaps a yoko ono) 23 _ a d.i.y. 24 _ an apropriator 25 _ a performer 26 _ a spectator 27 _ a spectator of the spectator 28 _ a guesser of the performer 29 _ a guesser of the spectator 30 _ a guesser of the spectator of the spectator
was it possible to create is it still possible to create a manifesto9 that frees the spectator to become something else when i gave the instruction for you to act with someone’s body _ i was already asking you something when i gave the instruction for you to act in this space _ i was already asking you something it’s a relationship perhaps that should have the same amount of energy _ conflicts _ ideas _ etc maybe i shouldn’t call it spectatorship _ but a performer performing to and with other performers maybe i should avoid audiences _ and just present collaborative works to myself _ to ourselves _ the group that participates where we all become spectators of each other and performers of the same or multiple actions maybe i could hire spectators to become my directors _ to coordinate me the exercise i proposed become from the idea of the following text
for instance i/we could host an occasion10 with ecosex11 plants/bodies and ask the performer-spectator to allow themselves to be out of oppression12 and then to cut (a) piece13 of materiality _ and could undress someone in my mind and ask the audience-artist to become la bĂŞte14 of it _ putting candies on a corner15 _ in this way i/we would be a present artist16 who expects for an audience presence that can also save the date17 _ thus i/we can tell people how art school stole my/your/our virginity18 __ in resume _ i/we could (re)create nine art shows that came to my/our mind for this presentation _ to present myself and to create a new performance piece with an audience-artist that never thought it would become one _ in this way _ audience can take then audience(ship) _ authorship _ co-performer(ship) _ spectatorship _ followership (that becomes) friendship _ externship (that becomes) membership _ ownership _ relationship _ companionship
so yes _ same in the exercise i gave to you instructions or rules to follow but it still _ i tried to don’t turn it into a show _ but rather as a performance with many actions _ where we all were the ARTIST SPECTATOR AUDIENCE PERFORMER of it
thank you/we for being part of my/your/our presentation _ research and practice
YOU
ARE
YOU ARE THE OPPRESED / YOU ARE THE OPPRESSOR YOU ARE THE ARTIST / YOU ARE THE PRESENT YOU ARE THE HOST / YOU ARE THE GUEST YOU ARE LA BÊTE / YOU ARE LA BELLE YOU ARE THE TOUCHER / YOU ARE THE TOUCHED YOU ARE THE SWEETIE / YOU ARE THE UNTITLED YOU ARE THE CUTTER / YOU ARE THE PAPER YOU ARE THE VIRGIN / YOU ARE THE VETERAN YOU ARE THE DATE / YOU ARE THE DATER
WE
ARE
WE ARE THE OPPRESED / WE ARE THE OPPRESSOR WE ARE THE ARTIST / WE ARE THE PRESENT WE ARE THE HOST / WE ARE THE GUEST WE ARE LA BÊTE / WE ARE LA BELLE WE ARE THE TOUCHER / WE ARE THE TOUCHED WE ARE THE SWEETIE / WE ARE THE UNTITLED WE ARE THE CUTTER / WE ARE THE PAPER WE ARE THE VIRGIN / WE ARE THE VETERAN WE ARE THE DATE / WE ARE THE DATER
[REFERE NCES] 1
guy debord _ the society of the spectacle _ 1973 _ viewed at https://youtu.be/q0AJ66Rb-1o
2
john berger _ ways of seeing _ 1972 _ episode 1 _ viewed at https://youtu.be/0pDE4VX_9Kk
3
guy debord _ the society of the spectacle _ 1973 _ viewed at https://youtu.be/q0AJ66Rb-1o
4
allan kaprow _ how to make a happening _ 1966 _ viewed at https://www.youtube.com/
[last consulted 2018/10/15] [last consulted 2018/10/15] [last consulted 2018/10/15] watch?v=8iCM-YIjyHE&feature=youtu.be [last consulted 2018/10/15] 5
marina abramovic _ the artist is present _ 2012 _ moma _ new york 6
7
marina abramovic _ rhythm 0 _ 1974 _ studio norra _ naples
pierre bourdieu _ pascalian meditations _ 2000 _ translated by richard nice _ stanford: stanford university press _ p-170 8 9
joseph beuys _ every man is an artist _ 1978 _ tate modern _ london
hans ulrich obrist _ manifestos for the future _ 2010 _ e-flux journal #12 _ january 2010 [PHOTO CREDITS]
10
isabel lewis _ occasion _ 2017 _ tate modern _ london _ photo of http://www.rociochacon.
11
pony express _ club ecosex _ 2017 _ rivoli theatre _ porto _ photo of http://www.porto.
com/Isabel-Lewis-TATE-MODERN [last consulted 2018/10/16] pt/noticias/instalacao-e-performances-trazem-experiencia-erotico-ecologica-ao-club-ecosex_2 [last consulted 2018/10/16] 12
augusto boal _ theatre of the oppressed _ 1975 _ paris _ photo of http://www.funarte.gov.
br/brasilmemoriadasartes/acervo/augusto-boal/do-actors-studio-ao-teatro-do-oprimido/
[last
consulted 2018/10/16] 13
yoko ono _ cut piece _ 1964 _ yamaichi concert hall _ kyoto _ photo of http://uk.phaidon.com/
agenda/art/articles/2015/may/18/yoko-ono-s-cut-piece-explained/ [last consulted 2018/10/16] 14
wagner schwartz _ la bête _ 2017 _ mam _ são paulo _ photo of http://escrevalolaescreva.
blogspot.com/2018/02/quem-vai-responder-pelo-que-fizeram.html [last consulted 2018/10/16] 15
felix gonzalez-torres _ untitled (portrait of ross in la) _ 1991 _ photo of https://culturequota.com/ untitledportraitofross/ [last consulted 2018/10/16]
16
marina abramovic _ the artist is present _ 2012 _ moma _ new york _ photo of https://vulture-
17
mischa nadasyan _ save the date _ 2014 _ photo of https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/
18
clayton pettet _ art school stole my virginity _ 2013 _ london _ photo of http://dontpaniconline.
magazine.com/the-artist-is-present/ [last consulted 2018/10/16] nnqq3m/sex-every-day-for-a-year-892 [last consulted 2018/10/16] com/magazine/arts/art-school-stole-my-virginity [last consulted 2018/10/16]
work by andré da fonseca _ radical performance _ professor andrea tuijten _ ma performance making _ goldsmiths - univesity of london _ 2018-10-15 _ 2018-19