My performance piece was a statement against sexual abuse and sexual slavery. My costume I used to draw sexual attention to myself, but it was marked by the makeup that simulated bruises and cuts. The rope was the symbol of the restriction of the literal slavery, and how abusive relationships can be just as restrictive as slavery. The makeup was done with all of my own supplies collected from halloween and just what I have for everyday. I think the bruises were effective, and were harsh enough to communicate my message. I wanted to put sexual slavery and abuse in peoples faces, in a way where they could not ignore it, and it had to be confronted. I chose to stand and walk up and down that corner on Kennedy because I knew it was a highly visible place, and during rush-hour people sitting in their cars would have a hard time ignoring me. People's reactions were interesting. They would openly gawk and stare, but no one seemed to be overly concerned. I even had one very creepy guy say hello. Numerous cops drove by, but none felt the need to stop. When walking back to campus I silenced quite a few conversations. I found this all very interesting.
I have studied psychology in the past so the message of this piece really stood out to me. You would think that people would not hesitate to stop someone who looked so clearly distressed. I loved the execution but I wish you could have seen the peoples faces.
ReplyDeleteI liked the idea behind this project. I wish I could have seen more people passing by you and not just cars. Overall though you had an interesting concept and I like that it was personal to you and your past.
ReplyDeleteYour piece was very emotional, and the work you did with the costume and makeup was impressive. I'm honestly really surprised that there weren't as many direct interaction with your piece, but perhaps it just had to do with the place you did it. Either way, the performance was definitely powerful.
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