Photo by Matthias Pick
It is influenced by my first experience traveling outside of Venezuela and, or Trinidad & Tobago while also being about both places. It is done with very strict order, props and actions. It is a neurotic transference of ingested learnings and symbols about my identity. Being there allowed me the space to project and contrast these ideas. Ultimately in a foreign space, in the contrast of relevance and context it was allowed to become questions. I am a question with many plausible answers from the many peoples who are all grappling with similar issues. As much as each offers temporary comfort none offers truth. Truth is poor and fragmented.
Part of the final performance was the footage from my first Camera Walks exercise while in Berlin. It consists of strapping a mini video recording device to one of my eyes in order to capture what I see exactly as I see it. My performance involved interacting with the projected footage of the foreign city and also having it projected on my nude body. I imitated the way I originally looked at all that was new; with awe, abandon, lots of jerky movements of the head and slow movements of the body. I used it not only to recreate a personal moment but also to illustrate how experience is based in the body. If it remains there it can easily be lost as it is one day forgotten; the footage serves to preserve the moment. What was once in the body can now always be remembered through mechanical reproduction and also what is now on the body now makes us One-a merging of mechanical reproduction, memory, experience and Body-as One we both make and unmake each other as reality: The uncomfortable machine, machinating body...
For more information on the workshop view these links:
The Performance Art Studies website:
http://pas.bbbjohannesdeimling.de/Johannes Deimling website:
http://www.bbbjohannesdeimling.de/
Matthias Pick website:
http://www.matthiaspick.de/Welcome.html
