Live Performance: Process and Crit.

Process - I decided to sign up first for the live performances, because I knew that I wouldn't want to deal with waiting and the nerves that come with that. I actually came up with the Pollock idea only the day before my presentation, before I had been working on a skit to act out that centered around a couch. I made this skit really elaborate and planned it all out; I drew up a floor plan and described my movements and what I needed to act out. However, when I rehearsed it, it took over a minute, and I wasn't too comfortable doing it. I knew that in front of an audience this acting would be extremely difficult for me to pull off well, I don't do well being the center of attention. So with this in mind I began thinking of alternative things for me to do and after about 5 terrible ideas the Pollock one came around. It was great, it would be interesting and it wouldn't require acting. All I had to do was think about how I would apply the paint and I was ready to gather my materials. I made sure to wear just black and white during the piece, so it would tie together with the black paint on white back. I didn't want to use newsprint because although it was bigger and cheaper, it wouldn't give me the contrast I wanted. I had some left over bristol paper I decided to use it, and since it would require multiple sheets to get the size I wanted it would also be segmented and easier to clean up or transport after the show. I also cut and taped some trash bags into a protective sheet for the floor. I made sure to incorporate different methods of applying paint, so I could get more visual variation on the "canvas" and so that the act of applying the paint would be more varied and therefore interesting to the audience. I also made sure to move around the "canvas" when I was applying the paint, as to give everyone and equal view of the act.

Crit - In the critique of my performance people liked that I used different ways of applying paint, it even  gave one person some inspiration for his sketches. Bill said that the first splat of paint was the best, because everyone started scooting their chairs back frantically. He also said that the trash bags detracted from the performance, but I didn't want to make a mess. Bill did, however, like that decided to use an outfit. Overall the performance seemed pretty successful.