The Performance is Never Over series (2013)
The 25
performances in this series were directly influenced by Linda Tuhiwai Smiths
book Decolonizing Methodologies
(1999), in her book Smith explored through 25 research projects looking at
methods of decolonisation which is how I came to choosing the number of
performances in this series and completed them between June and October in
2013.
The title for this project is in reference to a statement made by artist James Luna, surrounding the idea that an indigenous person is always in the site of the observer. Indigenous have often been the object of viewing and Luna refers to many generalisations and popular created myths surrounding natives, however many of his performances are representations of his life lived on the reservation.
I have used this body of work to explore performance in a visual art context, and created moments for the audience to consider as I refer and respond to the place where Maori entertainment stands within a touristic perception. Also embodying the idea of the object I was able to explore becoming the object to be considered as the art, becoming the representation of ideas.
The title for this project is in reference to a statement made by artist James Luna, surrounding the idea that an indigenous person is always in the site of the observer. Indigenous have often been the object of viewing and Luna refers to many generalisations and popular created myths surrounding natives, however many of his performances are representations of his life lived on the reservation.
I have used this body of work to explore performance in a visual art context, and created moments for the audience to consider as I refer and respond to the place where Maori entertainment stands within a touristic perception. Also embodying the idea of the object I was able to explore becoming the object to be considered as the art, becoming the representation of ideas.
