Experimentation for Home Project

For my art class's upcoming home project, we were presented with two options:

Option 1: Installation

Prompt: "The Whole is Greater Than the Sum of it's Parts"

Assignment: Create a site-specific installation sculpture that "activates" the space where it is installed. Through its composition and components used in its creation, it should creatively address the prompt: "The Whole is Greater Than the Sum of it's Parts".

Option 2: Performance Prompt: "Become a Universal Force" Assignment: Create a ceremonial costume representing a force of good or evil. Film a performance of you performing a faux social, religious, or meaningful act no shorter than one minute and no longer than five minutes.

I chose option 2, and began brainstorming ideas for a ceremonial performance. Ultimately, I came up with an idea surrounding an act that represents the universal force of a war between good and evil among humankind. The easiest way I thought to perform an act of this force would be to perform as a type of zombie participating in a ritual of sacrifice. Zombies are typically portrayed as an infected human being, who is forced by the infection to spread the infection through biting other humans. The fight between the infection and the natural human desire within the zombies mind would represent the force of good vs evil, good being the natural human desire, and evil being the infection, or rather societal norms enforced through pressures to conform.

For the actual performance, I want to portray myself in a zombie-like costume that consists of pieces of my human self, as well as moss, mold, and infectious vines that wrap around my body. I want to have one arm more infected than the other, and for the performance, I thought it would be quite moving for me to sit typing at a computer at a desk in a pretty much empty room, only lit by the natural light coming through the window blinds. Then, I would suddenly stop typing, turn towards the camera, and slowly gnaw the infected arm off while staring at the viewer. When I'm done, I would turn back to the computer and continue typing. There would be no added sounds in this performance, other than those that come naturally from the movements I'm performing.

For the costume, I want to have almost a suit that I can easily put on top of my normal clothes. I would have the suit consist of a chest piece (most likely based of cotton or elastic, a typical form-fitting black shirt), as well as two black socks of a similar tight-fitting material, and a partial disguise that I could apply to my face. I want to appear as though I'm covered in vines, dirt, and some blood with bruised and decaying skin while only a few parts of myself will be exposed, such as one of my eyes or my ears. I would have my hair appear matted (teased) and try to look as gruesome and beast-like as possible. I would use the black suit pieces to attach the vines and other gross decorations. As far as the arm mechanism, I need a material that can blend into my skin (doesn't look chunky or bulky), that can be colored and decorated to appear infected, and can easily be pulled off. I was considering a glove for this, but I'm not sure how easy it would be to decorate it. I could have the infected arm be a glove that goes up to my shoulder as to blend in with the rest of my body, and it would have tissue paper attached to it (and some of it falling off to show that decay and infection), but the glove would be cut from the top, all the way down to my wrist on the backside so that I can easily take it off during performance. I would hold the glove together with a hidden binder clip or safety pin that i discretely remove with my other hand while I "gnaw" that arm off. When the glove comes off, the black glove underneath will be exposed.

As for material, I haven't been able to fully experiment, but I have been collecting things to experiment with, and I have tested out how to attach paper or tissue to a glove, and the easiest way right now appears to be hot glue.

I'm really excited to work on this project, and I hope I can deliver a final product that lives up to my own expectations!