11/13 & 11/20 Group Assignments - Annie Daniel, Dana Chariton, Matthew Pazskiet, Samuel Garnett

11/13 assignment:

a) Each member of the group will stand in each corner of the bathroom. A small table is placed in the center, with objects relating to personal vulnerabilities on the table. There will be instructions for the audience on the table - "Use any item in this room, in any way that you would like, on us. We are open and ready for anything." Members of the audience will participate and at the end of the piece - set with a time limit of 10 minutes - we come together in a group and face the audience, who will be most likely be looking into the space from the hallway, as not everyone can fit in the space at one time. We will say "You have done this. We are human beings."

b) The Generator Building bathroom closest to the door. 

c) The arts and activism students and instructors.

d) www.ted.com/talks/marina_abramovic_an_art_made_of_trust_vulnerability_and_connection#t-335114.

www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_on_vulnerability?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare#t-1200380.

https://blogs.uoregon.edu/marinaabramovic/category/rhythm-series/

11/20 assignment

The largest obstacle our group has struggled with is solidifying what power and vulnerability truly are, especially in the context of performance. We discussed a lot about how to encourage and allow the audience to feel the strength of our vulnerability, as well as how to shift an audience's mindset on how they view a vulnerable performer. In researching, a performance that struck us as the most applicable to this theme was Marina Abramovic's Rhythm 0. We decided to adapt it to eliminate the life or death danger that she allowed, and in doing that it shifted to an entirely new piece. We discussed what type of items should be on the table and came to the conclusion that they should be objects that we as performers are emotionally invested in. We also found that the true power came in the ending of the piece where we confront the audience, person to person, instead of the submissive and malleable playthings we set ourselves as at the beginning of the piece. We do not explicitly state that we take full responsibility for everything that occurs, as Marina does in Rhythm 0, but we instead turn the focus directly back on the audience. This allows them to take responsibility, and therefore share the vulnerability that we as performers felt. Our goal is to shift the audience's view on our vulnerability from the beginning to the end of the piece. Even if we stand in silence and no one does anything to us, we will remind them that they have as much power to control the space as they want. They are us, we are them, we all are in this space doing and sharing these things, person to person. We as performers come together as a group at the end, and then in speaking the last two lines the whole class comes together in unity as responsible and intimate creatures. This leaves the performers and audience alike with power in knowledge that we are aware and responsible for the consequences of what we do to others.