Amar's Prompt - Post #7

Once is a show that I had the pleasure of seeing the last time I visited New York City. This show features live musicians and buskers that perform all of the music in the show. I would be very interested to witness a production that took the audience to the street corner, then into a bar down the block to watch this beautiful story unfold.
This would really utilize the Axioms of Environmental theatre and present a believable story to the audience. The story revolves around the relationship between the two main characters simple named Guy and Girl. The separation that is distinguished between the audience and our characters by not knowing their names really reminds me of how it is like to witness things as a bystander in a bar. I also would not be opposed to the idea of ordering a couple of beers while watching a show!

As for the quote by Kantor, I can certainly agree that in order for a completely, wholly believable event to happen, the "audience" must be in circumstances that they think are real. It is far more likely for me to believe that a "drama" is actually happening if I'm walking around downtown as opposed to near or inside a theatre, at a park like Disney World, or even to an extent a college campus. Places that have an environment meant for performing in (e.g. a theater, Disney World) sets the audience member up to expect a performance, and when said performance occurs, some percentage of the audience's consciousness is aware that they are watching a staged event. At a place like a college campus that contains a specific population of students and faculty, where everyone is there for a similar purpose, there is still some amount of disbelief because that audience is more aware of the likely-hood of some kind of disruption.
I do not think that the theatre is the "least appropriate site for drama to be materialized". As I stated before, it is harder to establish an immediate believability for an audience inside of a theatre, but when attending the theatre, it is partially the audience's job to suspend their disbelief and allow themselves to be immersed in whatever is happening on stage.

Response to Addie's Post Prompt #6

1.

I don't think that "cross-pollination" with other mediums(film, images, technology, etc.) dilutes performance art into the other mediums. It may evolve and inform the performances of the future, but I think that performance art has the capability to influence and inform these other art forms as much as it has the potential of being influenced. If anything, the mediums will become more diverse and enriched by these intermingling art forms.
The future of performance art will be shaped and molded by those who practice it. It has and will continue to influence artistic mediums of every discipline. 


A mainstream contemporary example of this is displayed in Jay Z's Picasso Baby: A Performance Art Film. Influenced by Marina Abramović's The Artist is Present, Jay Z raps on a small stage in a museum atrium while spectators are invited to take turns sitting opposite him, one at a time. Each spectator that did so received a personalized hip hop performance. Many artists, dancers, musicians, writers, actors(famous and not-so-famous alike) were in attendance, as well as Abramović herself. These artists eventually joined Jay Z on stage, performed for him in return, and the intimate space turned into a block-party. This mainstream artist sharing this type of performance is exactly how a medium like performance art will continue to influence other art forms, while staying true to itself. It is likely that many spectators of this performance(live and online) would have not been exposed to this type of art had Jay Z not been interested enough in performance art and held this event. One spectator says "You make yourself art. That's amazing!".

As Jay Z remarks in the video "we're artists, we're like cousins". Like minded creative people can and should work together to create new art, and help each other excel in each other's fields.

2.
When talking about historical events with people I am unfamiliar with, I like to ask where that person was when said events were occurring. This is a somewhat often occurrence when I encounter new people and they discover that I grew up in Louisiana. For several years after August 29th, 2005, most non-Louisianians would ask me if I faired well during Hurricane Katrina, assuming I had lost everything. I usually explained that while I had to endure some power outages and varying degrees of fallen foliage, I survived quite well considering. My family housed a family or two for several weeks and I had a lot of new classmates, but even my Baton Rouge experience of the storm was nothing like the thousands who had to endure being stranded in New Orleans and surrounding areas with very little support. 

Just as I had no change in my daily life during Hurricane Sandy(though I may have had a better understanding of the situation because I am a Louisianan), many Americans had little to go on other that what they were seeing on TV in the aftermath of Katrina.
It is important to recognize that as theatre artists, if we want to represent an event and tell a story about it, we should make sure to present accurate depictions of the events that occurred. Getting information from the direct source is important. If we wish to influence our audience with an opinion, that is something different all together.