Attention!
2022
Attention! is a durational performance within the group show named, “Lights Out.” Having to create an installation in a dark exhibition space, I was drawn to the recurring feeling of having a moving spotlight on me at all times. To materialize this feeling, I welded a steel harness holding lights to illuminate my face and chest when worn.
In the first portion of the performance, I wore the welded spotlight in a tunnel made of dark fabric. At one end of the tunnel, I stood, and at the other end was a vantage point for the patrons of the exhibition to view me through. From the peephole I created, viewers saw me clearly, yet all I was able to see were the flashes of cameras or blurry expressions peering through the slit opposing me. This chamber of observation that I submitted myself to acted as an incubation period, a forty-minute microcosm that imitated an everyday moment for me in public. The feeling of intense perception finally forced me to escape the tunnel and physically tear it down. Once destroyed, I took off the welded spotlight and replaced it with a red tube of nylon. I performed with the new, less constricting attention symbol, physically reinventing it for the remainder of the performance.
The second act of this performance was improvised, but I knew that, “wearing attention” was the message I wanted to present. Translating attention into a multifaceted, wearable garment is how I have been able to envision owning and being empowered by the amount of consistent perception I receive. After viewing this portion of the performance retrospectively, the imagery of matadors, madonnas, and matrons surfaced through my interactions with the fabric.
Main Performance
Compilation of entire performance in tiktok format
Welded wearable spotlight
tunnel made of died fabric held up with nylon and bags of crosses from For You, Honda Fit 2017
Tube of red nylon