The performance f l æ s h, which I presented at Galeria Vermelho in São Paulo, solved the debate over the documentation of the ontological performative act by turning the spectator him/herself into both the one who sees and gives meaning to the action and also the one who documents it through video or photography. For that purpose, a contest and a prize for the best shot of f l æ s h was set.
Either through the flyer or a note on the entrance of the gallery, the spectator was invited to take as many shots of f l æ s h and to use as much flash as wished as well as to send his best flash of a moment of f l æ s h to be submitted to a voting contest on the weblog of the artist. As a member of the audience so distinctively put after the performance, the contest not only made the spectator a live and embodied part of the performative act, but also implied that the performance was to be seen through the lenses of the camera or its screen. It might even be said that the real performance was the act of documentation in itself, which then coincided with the act of consumption of the performative presence of the performer by the spectator.
The Performance f l æ s h Privé:
The performance privé – the prize for the contest – given at the living room of the performer’s home, which had served as studio for the project’s process, was highly influenced by that feedback. The performance f l æ s h privé paid tribute to the shot that won the contest. Though the recorded audio of the performance that happened in the gallery partially marked the tempo for the performance privé, the whole structure was inspired by that particular ‘eye’ from the winner’s shot. The space for the performance privé was divided in two by a red curtain and the spectator, though he could hear in real time what was taking place at the other side of the fabric, only saw it through the LCD of a camera. There was also a camera pointed towards the spectator, which documented his reactions. Without any personal contact until the ‘completion’ of the performance, the spectator was greeted with a full dinner, which of course included meat, and shared his side of the room with the cow Marilyn’s skin.
It’s only now, months after it actually took place, that the interests permeating the performance privé are coming into ‘view’. They will soon find their way into this paper and, who knows, the documented video material from the performer’s and from the spectator’s cameras will become an ‘object’ of art in itself.
