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Blog #6 

Generosity Performance Piece

At first, the idea of creating a performance piece was daunting. Watching the film Pina simultaneously stirred up feelings of uncomfortability and awe. I had always associated performance art with dancing, singing, repetition, or acting. It wasn't until I researched the performance artists Allora and Calzadilla that I learned performance art was so much more than human action. It invites viewers to engage and think deeply about pressing questions through the use of art as action.

The prompt of creating a generosity piece involving a prop immediately made me think of a pinata. I knew that creating a pinata would align with a few of Kaprow's rules that we've been discussing. The pinata somewhat eliminates the artist - involving the viewers as artists in their action of engaging with the piece. It is also only performed once. I also began thinking of different types of generosity. How can I create an experience that is giving to the audience? How can I leave the audience with a physical gift of generosity? 

The week of Nov. 5th, when the piece was performed, was universally chaotic. Caught in between the stress of school and the impending  Presidential election, college students struggle to catch a break. I wanted the pinata to represent the anxieties that we're currently facing as college students - providing the class with the gift of letting out pent-up aggression on a physical representation of their taunters. 

The outside of the pinata presented itself as a crumpled up piece of paper with the audiences' fears/worries/anxieties written. The inside of the pinata held bunches of candy attached to words of encouragement. Words such as ...

- community

- growth

- breathe

- rest

- productivity 

- together

These words are reflective, inviting the audience to take a moment after their episode of aggression to pause and think about how to move forward in their anxiousness. 

There were some reflective thoughts that arose when I was creating this piece...

- What is the significance of the materials that I'm using to create this? The answer: I used newspaper, paying close attention to the headlines that were causes of worry. There is something to be said about hitting a bunch of newspaper articles with a stick.

- The process of creating the paper mache was therapeutic, which was a nice gift 

- The meaningfulness of gift-giving is less about the quality of the gift and more so attached to the amount of thought that goes into the gift

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