BEYOND ME

The title is meant to be a play on words. The intent is to work outside my comfort zone, beyond perhaps even my current understanding of the performance discipline. I also plan to work with a live audience; their response (interaction) is beyond my control.

My own previous dismissal of performance art both aesthetically and conceptually was really a matter of unfamiliarity or “contempt prior to investigation”. I have always been quick to judge “relevance”. The need to let go of antiquated and romantic perceptions of the visual artist’s “proper practice” for me is paramount at this phase of my development. Certainly there is still value in aesthetic object making and creating artifacts reflective of process, but the realm of performance, video and technology holds for me not only creative promise and possibility but it truly questions the relevance of my current traditional means of visual art making for me. I see the potential for this to be my most natural and authentic core work.

Storytelling has captivated my attention in the past few years, and I have done a couple of “monologues” now publicly. Additionally I have “performed” in a couple of video pieces that include some multimedia efforts (primarily painted figure and backdrops). I love the temporal experience of live theater as well as the personally cathartic nature of performing the autobiographic monologue.  So I plan to create a series of “vignettes” that are based on imprinted memory, With the understanding that this type of work contains a central conceit, a narcissistic world view, my actually hope is to function as a “wounded healer” in my connection with the audience.