Day Seven: Yes there is a point to all of this

I’ll admit that the project I assigned students for today was a little odd. They had to execute an everyday activity in front of the class. The activity needed to be sustained for at least one minute. On the surface level it probably seems like an acting exercise. I did want to draw a distinction between “presenting” the activity and “executing” it. But it still has that quality. The assignment does indeed have a purpose. As I explained – in order for us as a group to get to the point where we can do some interesting thinking, talking, and work we have to get comfortable with each other. That means sharing, creating a safe, non-judgmental environment. Beyond that my goal is to link the execution of the actions to the development of postmodern dance, which in turn will be linked into the notion of challenging the authority of institutions like museums and theatres as well as the artificial divide between life and art. The point is to get the students to think about this divide and what happens to it in the wake of Duchamp, Cage, Cunningham, and others. Once the sanctity of the institutions is in question the idea of a stable framing device for artistic expression can be explored from a variety of perspectives.

I enjoyed the presentations today, although, as with the other two projects, the tone and approach between the two classes was widely different. The first section seemed more external whereas in the second section many of the activities were more introspective. It will be interesting to see how that develops over the course of the term. The point with the first round of executions is to – well – execute the action – and watch and be watched. The second step was to group them together and then re-watch 1/3^rd of the executions as if they were a dance piece, 1/3^rd as a piece of music and 1/3^rd as a piece of theatre. This lends itself to all kinds of discussion points – readymades, defamiliarization, happenings, postmodern dance, theatre and post-Cagean sounds. I know that if I just asked the students to think about everyday activities in the guise of “art” the impact is minimal. By getting them up on their feet to execute these actions hopefully they can begin to address the questions raised from a much more personal and engaged perspective. I do need to give them a run down on modernist, avant-garde, and postmodern before we are ready for that conversation. We shall see.