The body of video performances that form the practice component of this research, Intimations, asks these questions through a deliberately intimate production process, in which I address the camera as you to interpell an imagined viewer. The written research analyses concepts of relating in connection with this method and approach, and builds a conceptual framework that positions the performative and discursive qualities of the works themselves. Moreover, the video performances analyse experimentally concepts encountered in reading and researching the contextual framework. Using body language, intonation of the voice, visual clues and methods of display as techniques, the works concentrate on configuring different modes of addressing another to offer the potential of a relationship. Performance Each video performance concentrates on an affect, a facet of personality, a modality of communicating, or addressing and engaging. Whilst each work offers a relationship based on these, the series will form a complex and multifaceted distributed portrait. The work is not autobiographical, but uses elements from my experiences and relationships to activate invitations to viewers. The screen doubles the interface function of the camera, opening the performance towards an exhibition space and physically present viewers. Several relational aspects are integrated in these methods and inform the strategies employed in the work the visual qualities of web cams and their uses in digital environments like Skype, Facebook, MySpace; my personal experiences and theoretical understanding of interpersonal relationships; the discoursive practices within visual art environments with their richness of conversations, exchanges, collaborations and contaminations; my informed access to other artists relational and video performance work. Starting from its title, Intimations attempts to hold in a productive balance the paradoxes activated by multiple meanings and functions accessed at the same time. The verb to intimate is defined both as 'to make known formally, to notify, announce, state' and 'to make intimate, to familiarize'. (Oxford English Dictionary, 2009) Similarly, the works in this series evoke contradictory but contemporary emotions and affects through modes of address, contiguity of language and communication patterns. Two video performances have been completed at this stage, and one is in progress. Regardless (2007) focuses on the dynamics of vulnerability and reversals of power balance. The title refers to the fact that the face in the monitor cannot see the viewer – she is without a gaze. At the same time, regardless for the obvious impossibility for contact – physical or otherwise – she calls for someone to stay and asks to be touched. Formally, the image is shot from above and the monitor sits on the floor tilted upwards to highlight a position of vulnerability. The work tries to hold contradictions in balance with a tone of voice that swings between needy and authoritative. Moreover, nakedness and discreet framing suggest a combination of vulnerability and seduction.
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