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“Happenings” at a Party
My interesting instructions:
“A Happening”
- Force two opposites together
Curious about my somewhat vague and abstract guidelines, I decided to do a little research. Here were my findings on what exactly a “happening” involves:
-A happening is a performance, event or situation meant to be considered art (performance art specifically). Happenings occur anywhere and rely on the audience to actively participate in order to create the art itself. Key elements of happenings are planned but artists sometimes retain room for improvisation. Happenings eliminate the boundary between the artwork and its viewer.
-In the late 1960s, influenced vastly by hippie culture, the term became broader, and it could “happen” anywhere from a business meeting, a jam session for musicians, a college rave, or a formal event(http://www.theartstory.org/movement-happenings.htm).
After reflecting upon my prompt, I thought of taking this “Happening” that I was entrusted to orchestrate to its most natural environment, and approach it as a social experiment.
A college party.
Now, forcing two opposites together was the most tricky part. I devised a somewhat rough plan, in which my audience (i.e., party attenders), could be actively involved. I wrote down several different simple instructions (actually similar to Fluxus) and distributed them on post-it notes to different people. I tried to keep the instructions as mundane as possible for what people already naturally do at parties. I did this because it connects with the idea discussed in class- art can be created out of routine. The goal was to take something completely foreign (me, a quiet and reserved introvert) and force me to interact with complete strangers (party loving college extroverts). That is how I incorporated the prompt I received: force two opposites together. Here were my results:
My set of strange instructions.
Eat this.
Lick something.
Dance with me.
Put lipstick on me.
Switch shoes.
And my personal favorite,
http://tinypic.com/player.php?v=jugweo%3E&s=8#.VMXgxktN1uY
Do the worm.
ZXY’s left-handed
My assignment was to write my ABC’s backwards with my left hand. I chose to do this four different ways, all using my left hand.
The first attempt was written from right to left with the letters printed from A to Z, each letter being physically reversed.
The second was written from left to right with the letters printed from Z to A, but not reversed as before.
The third was written from left to right with the letters written in cursive from Z to A, but not reversed.
The fourth attempt was by far the hardest, written in cursive from right to left, with letters reversed.
Write a Short Poem with Your Left Hand
Drawing with my Less Dominant Hand
Although it may seem like a typical task that one is asked to do and experiment in either middle school or high school art classes, it was the first time someone had officially directed me to try using my left hand to draw something. Since it was my first time, I really wanted to take the time to put in more effort and consideration in what might’ve been a simple trial yet a considerable undertaking because of its challenge.
With my left hand, I tried to sketch a still life of a water bottle that was placed in front of me on my desk. Behind the water bottle, part of the back mantle of a small T.V. could be seen as well as a wire that lay limply between the two objects. When I started drawing the water bottle, I thought about how I normally approached and drew objects, both considering the shape and direction of the lines that existed and made up the object and how I controlled my hand movement while drawing. Unfortunately, it wasn’t easy and even though I was thinking the same way and trying to take my time to sketch it carefully, in the end it was still my less dominant hand. It felt strange realizing all the feelings that came to me when I was struggling. For instance, my hand really felt weak and almost numb and for the first time, it felt really useless in a unfamiliar way. Although I had used both of my hands together for many other tasks, I had never felt this need for so much demand in using just a single hand. It also made me wonder why and how the brain works that way.
In the end, the picture seemed like it had undergone some struggle, but it actually turned out better than I expected and it was a fun experience.