This past Sunday we had a dress / on-site rehearsal for Entwine! It was a beautiful day albeit windy and I really got to see what elements the masks can (or cannot) stand up to so far. I also got to see how the performance impacts passerby and picnickers enjoying the sun and warm weather. I became aware of how street performance and art are so very different from entertainment. People who wanted to stay around the Labyrinth area, either having the time or just wanted to soak up as much sun as possible, stayed for most of our rehearsal, sitting on benches or talking on their phones. People who were coming by would stop for a while but soon walk on when they got bored or wanted to move to their next activity. I found that when people did this, I felt some sense of loss or frustration. I did not want people to be bored by what I was doing. I felt like I had failed in some way. When I pointed out people’s reactions to the performance at our meeting at the end, one of the girls stated that we as the artists were not going to be concnerned or bothered by short attention spans.

It was freeing to accept this. People are always looking for instant gratification because they are always getting it. Especially in an area like Georgetown where entertainment, shopping, and other recreation provide vast and diverse forms of instant gratification for people to take advantage of, patrons of the neighborhood come to be entertained. But art is not made for that. Perhaps that is what distinguishes art from entertainment, retail, and design: it is slow. Engaging with art and appreciating it requires patience and the sacrifice of personal time. Many people, myself sometimes included, are often not willing to give our time and energy to appreciate and learn from the things we encounter. And why should we feel this way? If we move on we are guarunteed to find pleasure at our fingertips somewhere else. But I am glad that art is slow. If you are willing to engage you will see things you did not notice before. And you will gain new perspective on your ideas. It will save you from the hold that instant pleasure and cheap rewards have on all of us.

Here are some photos of our rehearsal at the site! As much as I value our thought-provoking and engaging art piece, these photos are pretty instantly gratifying :) Check it out!

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Art

April 20, 2011

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