art: performance

Wofford & Me

I wasn’t trying to play dekooning to jenifer wofford’s rauschenberg in this performance – I just sort of wanted to see what would happen while exploring the professor/student relationship and asking a teacher to tango after a semester’s worth of slow-dance. I was thinking a lot about issues of power, sincerity, agency, and trust. time was an important one, too – the transient nature of this particular type of relationship, at this particular institution, is unfortunate:

berkeley doesn’t keep instructors on staff, which sets an expectation for mediocrity in these relationships – not for mediocre people but for exactly 15 weeks in which to build an intimately gainful relationship predicated on a mutual necessity to share secrets and speak truths – while both parties are aware of the relationship’s half-life. some people see the same therapist for years and never get to that point.

I didn’t think wofford was going to participate: the score of this piece is not without gall. but she did the opposite, and her performance was so, so great. I would like to think that this willingness to be great is essentially the content of our relationship.

on the wall is a drawing I stippled with a 6×0 rapidograph (a drawing made up entirely of 0.13mm diameter dots). the note was addressed “for jenifer, from jeremy,” and said “when the needle drops, you’ll know what to do.” thank you nathaniel for filming.