the mall showing went well, i think. it was interesting to do and it brought up a few things to ponder…..
i was not seeing it as a performance, i just wanted to show my work, the location was site specific to the film and i wanted the film and location to work together as one – what you see in the film you can see in the street. also i liked the play with the notions of ‘outside the gallery system’ but…. can non-performance be possible if the artist is so close to the work? – i had a portable dvd player on my back. also i was really interested how people would behave around the film/me, being outside the realm of gallery etiquette and behavior towards street busking, plus i did’nt know if i would be asked to move on by an oversensitive member of the police force. anyways i can report that most people walked past, glanced backwards and smiled, quite a few asked me if i knew that my thing was open at the back, 1x lady to fella “it is contemporary art dear”, 1x “how do i get to victoria station”, 1x dad to son “it’s supposed to be art”, 1x young couple (girl with flu mask on) “what are you doing?” “im showing my video art” “oh very good”, and the best of all 1x warm smile and a thumbs up. a few friends/family visited and chatted about the work over a coffee and a welcomed sit-down. all in all it didnt really matter if it was a performance or not, or how people reacted to it. what was important was that i showed my work and got direct feedback from the general public and that was a jolly good thing to get back.
