Photography and text (quick and easy art)

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This is a performance

On Friday 28 August 2009 I went to my friend Alice's house for Shanty Show, which was both a house warming and a chance for people to bring their art along to her new (thus temporarily empty) flat and exhibit it for one night. Perennially running late as I am, I hadn't had a chance to choose some pictures to bring, but I wanted to contribute something to the evening as I am very supportive of Alice's attempts to create a different sort of party and art experience. So, on the way there I wrote the following text, which I intended to read to everyone at some point in the evening. Unfortunately, the event turned out not to be conducive to a reading so the text was never read out loud, i.e., as a 'performance'. It became dormant. I found the experience which sparked the text very interesting, however, so have decided to revive it here in blogform. Thus, I am typing the text out loud now. Perhaps this is a 'performance', too:

This evening I got splashed while waiting to cross the road to go wait for a bus (352). Like what you see in the movies, this has never happened in real life before. [There was a huge amount of water in the gutter below me.] I stared at the water. And I thought how funny it was there was so much of it when it wasn't even raining today. Then I saw three buses coming toward me. I didn't move as the first approached. I stared at the water. I stared at the bus. The synapses didn't fire. A wave gushed up from the curb and sprayed the front of me with water. I went "oh" and jumped back. A woman smoking a fag stumbled past at this moment and began to laugh. I looked at her. By this stage I'd stepped back from curb, so I stepped back toward it to try to cross again. Simultaneously the second bus came. I jumped back, lightly sprayed again. The woman kept laughing as she walked away up the street. I stept [sic] forward as the third bus approached. He honks at me in warning plus I'm quicker this time, I jump back. The spray misses me. The woman is still laughing. The water is still rippling. And now I am smiling to myself and to her. I wait for a gap in the traffic and cross the road to the bus stop. Then I realise I'm much wetter than I'd thought. I pat myself down. I wait for the bus. The bus is 10 minutes late.

Sin Busters/I am not religious

Performance on Saturday night (01.08.09) at Stucco in Newtown, Sydney.


Recently two things happened:

1) On 24 July I found a 'Sin Busters' pamphlet in a phone-booth in Martin Place. It outlines the fact that most people share a common problem, 'A Sinful Lifestyles' and presents ways to escape a sinful lifestyle, 'the oldest problem in World history'. The writers of this pamphlet call themselves a 'Fellowship of 'Sin Busters''. They discuss (in an English lacking proper grammar, spelling or punctuation) sin and ways that God can save us from it. They include the 'ten commandments' (which I had never read in full until finding Sin Busters), 'ten steps' to avoid sinful lifestyles, and 'ten questions' about sinful lifestyles.

I was utterly amazed by this publication, and was not certain whether it was serious or a joke. There is a cartoon devil on the front and the text contains linguistic gems such as, 'Sure their is pleasure in Sin for a season. What about when the season is over?' and 'GOD is a jealous God. He is very passionate about his relationship with his Children, He doesn't want to see us hurt ourselves. Kids. They gotts make their own mistakes.' I think it is serious. I was very happy/excited to find this pamphlet.


2) Last week, for some reason, the words 'I am not religious' came to me. I was at my university and I either read them, overheard them or thought them. Whichever it was, I was suddenly struck by how peculiar they are. I wondered what would happen to those words if they were repeated over and over again. I found something very interesting in the repetition of these four words, 'I am not religious'. Something happens to those words when they are repeated. They become contradictory or paradoxical or something, a metamorphosis occurs.

Because 1) and 2) seem to be somehow subconsciously related, I thought it would be interesting to combine them into one action - to read them as a performance. I appropriated the text of 'Sin Busters' into something of my own (see below) and I copy/pasted the words 'I am not religious' as many times as would fit on a standard one-page Word document (147, see above).

Because many performances intrinsically require music, because I love music, because it is undoubtedly a wonderful tool to aid the conveyance of meaning and because, at the very least, it adds a level of resonance to a performance, I decided to give the above explanation, as well as read the texts themselves to some music by SINC:



This is the text that was read:

An appropriation of what SIN BUSTERS says:

INTRODUCTION
‘Sin Busters’ began in Newcastle, Australia in 1992
several men met to discuss their common problem, A Sinful Lifestyles
obsession to sin
the oldest problem in World history
sin has reigned on the earth
a spiritual Illness or disease
send us to a GODLESS ETERNITY
our Human or Flesh natures
try to keep these in our thoughts
Of course
every Good intention of ceasing from our old way
Oh Wretched Men
began to despise ourselves
But today
We have discovered
be ‘BORN AGAIN’
Thankyou
The 1960’s
a good decade for our enemy
darker shade of Pornography
The Pot smoking Flower People…etc.
Consider the Man & Woman
Starlight, Starbright
they hide a more sinister motive
FLESHY PIGS!
He is very passionate
He doesn’t want to see us hurt ourselves
Kids
make their own mistakes
a bit of sin in the Camp Guys
Flowing with milk and honey
Growth
a sinful lifestyle does take time
Forty years in the Wilderness
No longer

WHAT IS SIN
However
understand what sin is
look for something
the Nature and Character of sin
Newcomer
the TEN COMMANDMENTS
a very good example
The Author has excellent Credential
(Hi God)
But Hey!
Who counting?
They were written in stone
an authority on sin
salvation
born into sin
guilty of sin
God is also guilty
love in the 1st Degree
Many believe
nailed to the cross
ask yourselves
concerning the D-EVIL
Need we say more
to Hell with him

TEN COMMANDMENTS
thou have me
thou shalt make images
thou in vain
remember keep holy
honour and mother
thou kill
thou adultery
thou steal
thou against neighbour
thou is neighbour

RECOVERY PROGRAM
Ten Steps of Recovery
a sinful lifestyle
it was necessary
about certain changers within ourselves
to achieve this
laid down
help
we had to admit
we were powerless
the Law of Sin & Death
first step
stay away sin
need to fulfill
carry the Message
to others
We know
on the way
be nice
take some people
friend
family
Mother in Law
Perhaps not
God is a people person
All the world a vineyard
we each have our part to play
petty denominational differences
We need the blessing
from Unity
a real enemy
move back
high Moral ground
echo down the corridors of time, and into eternity
A day
stood as one
declared with one voice
You are going to live on
take back
This is the Day
THERE WAS A DREAM
ONCE

TEN STEPS
death unmanagable
believe righteousness
commitment shows us
made honest ourselves
confess another nature sins
absolutely imperfections flesh
willing to accept
maintain inventory
sought to enhance knowledge
awakening lives

TEN QUESTIONS
your reputation
lifestyle institution
sinful lives
people’s life
lifestyle well-being
are you currently living, one day at a time?
lifestyle more than money
sin nation
currently dying
considered self as a result

After reading the above text, I attempted to say 'I am not religious' 147 times. I failed.

Then I played this, one of my favourite songs:



That was the end of the performance.