Performance - footprints/ hand prints

Back in uni! New semester! Full of energy! Lets go!

So recently i have been thinking about making some performance pieces outside, based on the sounds i hear and the environment around me. Express what i feel through the way i move and the colors i choose. So i thought of trying out some performances with footprints and hand prints! Mainly focusing on the sound of the wind and birds - natural sounds but also include the sounds of cars and people. Dipping feet and hands in paint and then just leaving marks in a repetitive, methodical kind of way, expressing sounds as they come and trying to see a pattern in the sounds that i hear around me. 

After thinking of experimenting in this direction i decided to go and search what performances or pieces of work are out there which link to what i am thinking of doing. I found this interactive piece of artwork that i fell in love with! It interacts with people and environment at the same time, making people rethink their use of cars and encouraging people to walk. 

Giant Footprint Tree in Shanghai Promotes Walking

Sponges soaked in green paint were placed at either end of the canvas so that every time a pedestrian walked across the intersection, a trail of fresh green footprint "leaves" were added to the tree giving the pedestrians a sense that they were contributing to a healthier environment.

I love the scale of this work as well as the way it invades the everyday space in an unusual way. You wouldn't normally see artwork on roads and that's why it really captured my attention. It forces people to interact with it and think about their input into the environment. This piece you cannot ignore. I love how simple, clever and effective this piece is!

The performance piece that i am thinking of doing doesn't involve other people contributing to my performance but it does include them in the sense that they would see the journey, the process of me making the performance and in turn might see the connections that i have made with the sounds around me. The performance will be a big circle of footprints and hand-prints that express my reaction to the sounds. A circle is a very important symbol for me, its shows unity, infinity, cycle, movement, time and life, and by responding to the sounds around me this way, such as birds singing, cars moving, people talking i want to show that life is repetitive, ongoing and that we are all united.

Tony Orrico a performance artist that i have talked about in my last post gave me an idea for this performance piece, as well as the Listen project done weeks ago. 

~Ev