Poetry

http://vimeo.com/17665453

I wanted to symbolize love as fire. When fire burns bright, it is spectacularly beautiful and we must work hard to keep our flame alive. Just as Flames can burn you at times, so can love. But with careful attention and respect for each other, love can continue to burn brightly forever!

Transformational Verbs

Four Fabulous Ways to Get a Group’s Attention!

#1:  Be excited yourself! If you are excited about what you are doing or talking about, people will naturally follow your example. It is a well-known fact that people want what other people have, so spread your enthusiasm!

#2:  Get each individual in your group involved in what you are doing. Give each person a job, a duty or a task that will make them feel important and that other people are relying on them. This will perk up their attitude and make them pay closer attention.

#3:   Switch your topic, even if it is just for a few minutes. If you feel like your group is feeling lethargic, surprise them by introducing something completely different than the subject you had been previously talking about.

#4:  Get on the same level as your group. Tell a personal story or example relating to your subject. If they are feeling nervous about speaking up or participating, encourage them by telling them about a time when you felt the same way and how you overcame it. Or, if they think the task you are doing together doesn’t make sense, explain it clearly again to make sure everyone can fully enjoy the experience. 

Poster

Multiple Objects Performance Art Reflects Life

   The "Multiple Clothing" performance by Steven Willats, the "Multiple Objects" performance by myself and my partner Andy, as well as the action painting performance by Elsa & Bella, has given me a new perspective on how I view art and life as a whole.

   Stephen Willats is a artist and master in the performance art field. His piece "Multiple Clothing 1965-98" centers on the ways in which people encounter and view one another. This piece is a strategy to explore the very fabric of society, with clothing being a basic externalisation of the self. His work inspires us to put aside the typical societal barriers and see one another for who they are on the inside. My performance piece "Multiple Objects" was designed to change the way people look at objects and others in their lives. When people are raised from infancy to appreciate things that are only externally beautiful, they lose their natural ability to independently decide for themselves what is or is not worthy of their attention. By ridding themselves of the judgemental labelling system they use to pre-judge others, they are able to see things around them with much more clarity.  The action painting performance by Elsa & Bella  follows through on this same theme of seeing things for their uniqueness. Elsa & Bella invokes feelings of mystery and curiosity among us. They do their performance by emotion, not by logic with what seems like random. As they continue, their painting starts to look ugly, but they adds a few more touches to it, pulling it into something unexpectedly beautiful. I believe that They are trying to show us that simple things also can create something magical.

   All three performance pieces focus on one central thing, which is that people must look beyond what meets the eye if they truly want to experience living. Multiple objects performance art reflects human life in an uncannily realistic way. Just as words, changing views and layers of paint add uniqueness and depth to performance art, so too can they add uniqueness and depth to human life. All too often people fail to see the beauty that is truly around them and this has to change now... 

Multiple Object Project

______________________________________________________  Multiple Object Project

            For our multiple object project, my partner and I decided to use cheap, shiny bows as our ‘multiple objects’. We tried to make each bow different in its own way by adding details such as jewels and ribbons to the tops of them.  In this way, although they all looked similar, they each had their own unique little twists.

______________________________________________________  Performance Analysis

            For our performance, we chose to act out a scene with a typical ‘beauty queen’ and her interviewer. We decorated a trashy gown with shiny bows to symbolize outer beauty without inner beauty. We carried out our performance in a fake manner to show other people that although there are a lot of so-called ‘beautiful’ girls in the world today, they only care about their appearance. Just as the shiny bows on the dress are beautiful on the outside but lack substance, so the beautiful girls are pretty on the outside but shallow on the inside. Their beauty is literally skin-deep.

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Theresa’s Performance

            I really enjoyed Theresa and her partners’ performance. The reason is because their performance was very thought-provoking. They made a powerful point and using a strong contrast.  Their performance started out with two tables next to each other, and a different girl sitting behind each table. The first table had a single tea bag and a single chip on it. The other table had several tea bags and several chips on it. I think they were trying to show us that the girl who had one tea bag and one chip was jealous of the girl who had more than her. But, at the same time, the girl who had more than the other one looked carelessly at her items because she had a lot of them. In other aspects of life, people are just like this. If a thing is not unique or special, people don’t give it much thought or even care about it. Possessions easily lose their value in the eyes of their owners.

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Zac & Jacob’s Performance

            Another performance that I really enjoyed was Zac and Jacob’s. During their performance, they took off all of their clothing except for their underwear. They then asked us to write down anything we wanted to say, using a piece of white paper and pen that they gave us. When we finished writing, they took the pieces of paper and stuck them all over their bodies and foreheads. Their performance gave me a feeling of oneness with the earth. The reason I felt this was because by using pure, white paper without any clothes on their bodies, Zac and Jacob reminded us that we all return to nature. We are organic beings, and we return to the earth where we originated from.

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Solo Project

This week we were doing our solo project. All of us had to do a one to three minute action with our beautiful object and ugly object. I found out that people showed their actions quite differently. Some people wrote a poem, told us a story, and even gave us a short performance. For me I performed a short performance to show other people what beauty is and what ugly is for me.

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Props:

-dirty bag

-winter coat/scarf

-necklace holder



What to do:

-Put on your coat & scarf.

-Pretend that it is a raining day

-Suddenly, take off your coat & scarf

-Pretend to open a shop door.

-Quickly place the necklace & holder on the desk.

-Looking sullen, pretend to notice the necklace. Pick it up, play with it.

-‘Accidentally’ kick the plastic bag on the floor

-Put on the necklace and be joyful!

-Pretend to buy it.

-Pretend to walk into the sun. (happily)

                                         

I portrayed beauty in this way to show that something that may me insignificant to others, can make another person feel beautiful. beauty is a moment that brightens your day.

I  showed ugliness this way to draw attention to things often neglected. Because of the way we treat things or people, they lose their value and we forget that they ere once beautiful.  Ugliness is neglected beauty.

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I liked Leah's performance. She used ugly object, a lollipop holder, as a decoration on a clown's mask. She then gave us an interesting magic show using that mask.  in my opinion, she portrayed the clown mask as ugly because it was so gaudy and typical. This was powerful to me. For her beautiful object a flower ring, she used it as an auction. This moved me because it showed that things increase in value as they age... I liked her performance because it was amusing. Besides, her performance was really smooth and succinct.

For Noushin's performance, I liked her idea very much. At first she poured the tea into an empty, shiny glass cup. While this in itself was beautiful, she  continued onto her next step, which was very unique. She started to patch up another broken glass cup. After that, she poured the tea into it. Even though the broken glass cup was ugly, after she patched it up  it became a beautiful thing......

                                  

Beautiful vs Ugly

Beautiful

I chose this jewelled necklace as a beautiful object because it is delicate and shiny. Also, I adore the multi-colored stones on this necklace as they represent different views of beauty. When I wear this necklace, I feel very joyful. Therefore, I think it is a beautiful object.

To me, beauty is a feeling. There is no direct right or wrong answer for what beauty should be. If you feel comfortable around something, or take pleasure in it, then it is beautiful to you. No one else has the right to tell you otherwise.

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Ugly

I picked this old plastic bag as an ugly object. The reason is that even though there are designs and colors on it, because it was thrown to the floor unnoticed, people didn’t bother to pick it up. In fact, because of neglect, it became so deteriorated that it is now considered garbage. That is why this plastic bag is ugly.

Ugliness is not only about appearance. It is a direct result of something that makes you feel uncomfortable. Although something may start out as beautiful, if you don’t take care of it, it can turn into something you detest. This action is absolute ugliness.  

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