Bromley Mission School

On November 7th I went to Liberia with a few churches from northern Virginia. On the mission trip our group brought school supplies, clothing, food, and improved facilities to Bromley Mission School. The school is a girls boarding school and has about 187 students. I enjoyed my trip greatly, and appreciated meeting and spending time with the girls.  You can see photos of my trip here

Smoking, Wrestling, and High Fives

I participated in two performances today as well as help instruct my own. The first performance I did was Jake's. His activity was for me and a partner (Jill) to go through the steps of smoking a cigarette. Jake wrote out each step from lighting to the disposal. I enjoyed this activity even though it was simple. 

The next performance I was involved in was Thiana's. Her performance piece involved two partners linking arms. After linking each person had to pull as hard as they could until one of the participants gave up. This activity was 

about strength and was more of a competition. My partner was Chul for this performance which was a good match I thought, and the whole experience was fun but eventually came to a draw.

My interactive performance required two people to perform. The partners had to stand about 10 feet apart and walk towards each other to give a high five. Once the first high five was given the two participants had to follow through and low five behind the back. This results in a continuous motion of high fives. This motion was to be repeated until perfected. I thought my performance worked for the assignment and was performed correctly. 

The interactive performances were a new form of art that I have not experimented with before. This class activity not only made class interesting but gave me a better sense of what the artists were doing in that time.  

Fluxus

Fluxus is a network of artists and designers known for using multiple types of media and using new or different ways of making art. Fluxus got its start in the mid to late 1950's from the experimental music of John Cage. George Maciunas was influenced by John Cage's ideas, especially in the idea of chance in art. There was a class taught by Cage called Experimental Composition at the New School of Social Research in New York City. Fluxus was more interested in simplicity a do it yourself way of thinking. A popular type of Fluxus art is called Fluxkits. These kits were a combination of games, printed cards, and ideas that are then organized in a wooden box. This one type of art was created by George Maciunas. Later in the Fluxus movement many members started to explore poetry, performance pieces, and experimental music and film. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluxus

Introduction to Performance Art

The activity that we had to participate in was about a visual connection between two people. Thiana and I both had mirrors that we held in front of our faces and looked back at each other. I had to make a funny face and Thiana had to repeat the face. After she repeated the face I made we both had to take a step away from each other. We became farther and farther away from each other and it became harder to see each others faces. This performance piece was a simple but fun introduction to performance art.