Self Interview(2003) Self Interview is a video and live-performance hybrid in which a life-size prerecorded projection of myself interviews me in front of a live audience. In Self Interview, the interviewer (my projected self) asks pointed questions concerning the nature of art; what it is that artists actually do; what it means to work with an artist's own image; the consequences of being observed; scripted conversations; and the relationship between the self and the projected-self. In this way, the piece becomes entirely self-reflexive both in form and in content. The reality of how having sets-of-expectations can influence or even dictate conversations and thought is explored during this interview process. The concept of one projecting ones own perspectives on the communication of others gets played out and literalized in this drama. Finally, it is decided that there is no difference between the self and the self that is projected upon others (like a set of clothing or a costume for interpretation) and so differences between people gets negated. For each one of us, the entire population of the world appears like a single repeating entity; everyone is the same. Human action, interaction, and free-agency take on a layer of inevitability. The motivation for every person's action gets processed through the filter of self-projection. Ultimately, Self Interview turns the mirror towards the audience, casting everyone as a projection. Other works in this body:
The Television is Watching (2004) The Television is Watching is a performance piece in which I am watching TV (staring at the audience) with a buddy (life-size projection of myself). As we sit and watch, the conversation turns toward reality television, surveillance, bite-sized news clips, TV baby-sitters, and the nostalgia effect as revealed by old television shows. |
