Alternative Forms of Art and the Comfort of the Easily Accessible

a physical painting is, perhaps, the most tangible form of art.  here i am holding this fucker in my hands.. it's real, you can see it, i can see it, let's talk about it.  there's a certain groundedness in that, which i appreciate, but as a whole, the form seems somewhat limited.  art museum: i walk in and i am empowered as the subject to examine and analyze and judge the static pieces around me.  what a priviledge yo.  i view the art as i want, under the power of my own opinions/choices..  i'm somehow safe.  there's an agreed upon set of rules in the museum and the gallery: we'll all walk in and see the art and talk about it and retain our sense of safety and idle in our comfort zones.  to me, nothing much is accomplished.  i don't think paintings, art museums, etc. are without value at all; there's much to learn about ourselves and the world through such things.  my idea for today is not to inspire a conversation about paintings, and what they offer, but rather, to suggest an alternative creative form: performance art.

the shortcomings of painting- indeed all static art- that i mentioned above are redeemed through performance art.  perhaps that's painting with too broad strokes, and not all performance art fits the bill, but the kind i have in mind certainly does: art designed to challenge the often invisible, societal rules that govern (and, emphatically limit) the way we relate to each other.  "hi man, how's it going? how's your life going?"  "what.  oh.  good."  nevermind that he may feel a large amount of anxiety on a daily-basis, the pain and isolation of being alive.. or the joy of connecting with another human, with accomplishing a goal.  those things don't count.  no, let's keep it at the normal, accepted, safe level of superficiality.  i don't blame the individual, they're simply playing out the conditioning they've been programmed with.  but as a collective, we should begin to examine these things.  this is what is important to me.  this is what excites me about art.  To break the monotony of everyday existience, to create a new experience, to have a feeling uncommon on the emotional spectrum, to simply take a detour from the laid-out, well-worn path of countless generations before us... these are a worthy goal.

to this end, david and i designed a performance art piece called 'the happy bus project'.  it has numerous variations (from trying to produce a real social good to simply being bizarre), but essentially entails opening up to a stranger on a public bus and engaging in a meaningful conversation.  "what are you doing with your time here?" "how are you feeling today?" "tell me about this experience."  these are the sorts of questions that we ask.  the goal is two-fold: firstly, the conversation is an end in itself, a sort of worthwhile experience with the time we sacrifice commuting.  the second return is that others (hopefully) will witness this interaction between two strangers and become inspired to open their own hearts more.  wow, it's actually possible for two strangers to open up and talk to each other and be supportive.  there's some more iterations, but this is the gist of it.

to deconstruct social patterns/belief systems/unseen assumptions inside of us, we need a sharp blade. and a sustained effort.  it's actually a near impossible task to take this to its furthest conclusion.. to be totally free from it all.  fortunatly, it's a graduated scale: the more we deconstruct, the more open our minds become.  it's not all or nothing.  for those of us concerned with this task, we can make headway by applying discipline and consciousness.  even then, it's tough-going, what to speak of those who aren't even aware or trying to do this.  the happy bus project gets through this wall by disguising itself as part of everyday life.  here's the important part- with some exceptions, we don't tell people they are part of a performance art piece.  this way they cannot pigeon-hole it as 'some wierd art thing', contain it in their minds as such, and subsequently dismiss it.  the idea is that it works with or without their approval.

okay for now you freaks.  onwards to openness!

-eric (shorter of the two)