Anna Genrich-Intermedia

     This was fun!  I wanted to do an endurance piece and I've had this concept in my head for a while.  It bothers me that in Marina Abramovic's piece where she yells in Ulay's mouth neither of them are using proper vocal support so it damages their voices.  A technique I have learned for supporting with the diaphragm is to sing while in a plank.  This forces you to engage your core while singing. The song is from one of my favorite musicals and I sing it to myself when I'm upset because I like the irony of it.  I wanted to show myself trying to keep it together until I cracked and I think it translated well. I chose to wear a cutsie themed outfit to further my presentation as a happy, positive person.  I would like to do this piece again but for a longer time.  Maybe after I collapse I can try to get up and keep going until I just can't anymore.

     The prompt for this project was to create a piece involving labor, time, and location. I emptied five bags of potting soil and proceeded to move it all to the top of of a hill with a tennis racket.  The audience responded well to my use of framing with the camera, my deliberate choice of outfit (to look like a worker) , and the absurd use of a tennis racket.  I was not expecting it to rain as soon as it started but it was a happy accident because it prompted to the truthful moment where I ran to cover up my camera.  A glitch I had in the process is that my camera only records up to 20 minutes at a time.  After my camera cut off I went up the hill one more time, down the hill, and proudly dropped the racket.  Because the camera cuts off, it robs the audience of the satisfaction I experienced when I knew I was for sure done.