How does one create a performative work that considers the aesthetics of narrative while simultaneously speaking to the political moment we are in? In 2014, I planned this performance to include several Staten Island, NY residents that would be presented in a prominent community space. Select participants, including myself, were given a notebook with 100 pages in which to capture an observation for each day that passed over a three + month period. Then, in late July of that year, Eric Garner’s death occurred within blocks of the performance location; a historic WPA, New York City Parks building. As I took in the events that occurred both in NYC and in Ferguson, MO, I saw the need for this group to create a narrative that spoke directly to their lived experience. In private conversations with each, issues of of marginalization came up whether for socio-economic, or other reasons and I spent hours with each person talking about a timeframe of their lives in which an experience or form of struggle had brought about enormous change or a shift in perspective.
This is the resulting piece from those conversations. In looking forward to 2015 (and beyond), I am seeking different environments and situations to present an updated incarnation of this idea.
30:00 clip: https://vimeo.com/118503791
10:00 minute excerpt: https://vimeo.com/119306210
mandymachine 