Site-specific performance With documentation (Video, laptop, Clothing rack, and tee Shirts)

Identities is a site-specific performance exploring the idea that every person is complex by carrying many identifiers at once. Site-specific work derives meaning from both the location and context; pieces done within another space would not be considered the same.

While struggling with the idea of my own identity and wanting to face socio-political themes, this project was born. I am a very private person. I hold much of my identity close to me without letting anyone peer in. I am a complex person with many identities that come together, making one me. This project shows the nervousness and trepidation that I faced in its creation and execution. The performance consisted of myself in front of the Lansing, Michigan Capitol Building. Over the course of an hour, I wore and changed out of ten black shirts with different identifiers written on them in white. All of the identifiers are part of me. They define an aspect or instance in my life. Each shirt was worn for a minimum of five minutes. After they were shed, they were placed behind me on the concrete with the writing facing up, so as to be legible.

I was very conscientious of the reactions I could have been faced with. I broached topics of immigration, middle-eastern descent, abortion, divorce, healthcare, as well as voyeurism and exhibitionism. Because this work is extremely personal, I needed to be able to distance myself from it in order to feel comfortable enough to take it through completion. The shirts are black to not garner undue attention. The white writing is does not fall on the bust-line of any shirt. Underneath the shirts, I kept on a tank top in a neutral, near skin tone. I chose a spot that gave a clear background shot of the capitol for documentation, standing slightly off the main sidewalk while hiding the camera, to a degree.

Because the Capitol can be seen as a place for protest, I saw myself in that space for this work. The fact that I garnered minimal attention during the duration of the performance motivated me to show documentation for this piece more intimately. This is why I chose a laptop on a pedestal versus a projection. It makes the audience interact with the work. We have to be close to one another in order to understand each other. Next to the pedestal is a two-tiered clothing rack with the shirts displayed in the order that they were worn, inviting viewers to get a closer look.