writing - visual - misc - huh?
pamela masik is going to stick herself in a spacious 8 foot by 8 foot room, with toilet, food, art supplies, diary, etc. etc. etc. for a whole five days while she undergoes a personal artistic exploration before the world live on the internet via her website.
this exhibitionist act, which doesn't really qualify as interesting performance art (she argues performance art is only a part of what she does as a contemporary artist), is clearly nothing more than a marketing device for this "descendent of famed british painter john constable."
check out the website. if she's doing this for entirely personal reasons, why the racy publicity shots (the paper printed the same one as on the website) of her naked in a small box? in the photo she stares lustily at the camera, enticing the viewer with her gaze while at the same time covering her body with her hands in an act that suggests that she is protecting herself from our ravenous stares. doesn't this kind of publicity shot contradict the nature of the art event she is hosting?
what's funny is how the article in the vancouver sun on the upcoming show talks to peter suedfeld, a ubc psychology prof, who basically questions the hype of the event. he says she shouldn't call it an act of "sensory deprivation" since it is only really "stimulus reduction." as well, he questions the concept that she will be creating out of a void since she has a bunch of life experiences that she will be drawing from whether she realizes it or not. a little stimulus reduction certainly does not erase the unconscious mind. interesting how the author of the article chose to use some unflattering quotes by a third party, and some examples of really serious performance art by the likes of vito acconci, to present a fairly negative view towards the event.
after all this slagging i must admit i don't mind the work she presents on her website, and can even say that i have to give her credit for doing a fine job at drumming up publicity and trying to propel her career through the murky waters of the canadian art world. however much i admire her intelligent approach to marketing herself, i still think the basis and execution of this show sound rather silly. place the act in whatever context you like and it still smells boring.
{October 12, 2003 06:58 PM}