Most people agree that the community should have awareness about social issues. Posters are hung for community meetings. Graffiti bashes the corrupt politician. Recently, documentaries have covered both sides of many issues. Performance based media adds another angle of how to address these issues.
Jazz is similar to performance art. Jazz has rules and structure, but at the same time has a complete freedom of expression. Performance based media has specific parameters, but it seems there is no end to the possibilities. Jazz happens when there are players. If you have ever been to a jazz club before, you understand that there is so much more to it than the music. It is about the smell of the room or the dim lighting. It is the piano player that is moved uncontrollably by the music. More importantly, the musicians create a movement together, and separately. They have the same end goal, the process is beautiful, but they all play their part. In the exhibition of “Jazz Performance Art,” three different artists are represented. These three artists have completely different approaches in addressing some of the same social issues.
What is the most effective way to talk about social issues? Should artist be completely confrontational like Guillermo Gomez-Pena or confident and humble like Regina Galindo? If an artwork is offensive, should it be allowed to be exhibited publicly?
Human equality spans a variety of social and economic levels, and is not something that can be solved exclusively by politics. The human experience is based on interaction, and decisions on how to act or think in future interactions. This exhibition explores the works of Guillermo Gomez-Pena, Regina Galindo and the Yes Men. Is human equality based on a larger issue like identity? Does it affect your view of gender when Gomez-Pena is aggressive and Galindo is silent? These videos explore the movement of the jazz piece and the interaction between musicians seeking a common goal. Famous jazz drummer Max Roach says it best:
“What makes the performance is the dialogue created between you and everybody around you spontaneously. And you have to interact with everybody up there, interacting and reacting, throwing out ideas. Jazz is a purely democratic music. It's collective creativity where somebody introduces something and we all get a chance to say something about it. It always amazes me, the whole of it is just a great spirit. It grabs you to the point where it never lets you go until the very last breath." (1)
As an example of how to address social issues in performance based media, I give you an excerpt from Guillermo Gomez Pena’s collaborative La Pocha Nostra. La Pocha Nostra is a collaborative of performance artists based out of San Francisco. Gomez-Pena was born in Mexico City and has lived in the US since 1978. His collaborative artworks create dialogue about racial tension and identity. In this piece, he begs the question, “Have you ever fantasized about being from a different race? Which one?” Why does he ask this in such an intense tone? What is the purpose of the white face paint?
In issues surrounding immigration, one can usually tell which side of the debate an individual is on by how they address people. The word “migrants” is generally usually used by the people who are migrating to the United States. “Illegal aliens” on the other hand has more of a negative connotation. La Pocha Nostra uses both of these names when speaking about these people. What is meant by that?
La Pocha Nostra is confrontational in their work. The scenes are sometimes abstract, and require previous knowledge in subject matter. Is that an effective way to address these issues, or should they spell it out better for the viewer?
Performance art is a difficult medium to define. Kristine Stiles say, “Performances may have complex or simple structures, include narratives and scripts, or consist only of silent body actions and gestures that attend to phenomenological conditions of place, time, space and interactions with objects... The two most significant aspects of performance art are that the artist’s body serves as the primary medium and that it communicates through both presentational and representational means.”(2)
Regina Galindo is a performance artist from Guatemala. She normally performs silently. Her work speaks of struggles with violence, dictatorship and women’s rights. This method is in sharp contrast to the approach Guillermo Gomez-Pena and his hyper-ethnic motifs. Is the method of silence just as effective? Is there anything she could have done in this piece to more effectively communicate objectification or violence? Many artists choose to address these issues with shock and vivid imagery. Would her message be more effective if it were more obvious?
This piece raises questions of gender and identity. She gets pulled across the floor by a white man. Would it change your opinion of the work if the many was Guatemalan? What if it was another Guatemalan woman? Is this speaking of the act of violence, or of her liberation when she walks away?
We are left with a documentation of a real event. We are left to our own interpretation and work through the piece with our own understanding of personal violence or liberation from violence. Would it be a better idea for the artist to control how we think about this or to leave us to our own interpretation?
A third method of performance is neither confrontational or silent, but satire. The YES MEN are known as culture jamming activists. They are known for their acts of “Identity Correction.” This is not a personal identity, but a corporate identity. In this video, they are addressing a room of students as representatives of the World Trade Organization. They are activists who for over a decade have been making mock websites of large organizations and corporations. These mock websites have a utopian and idealistic spark to them as they subtly correct the language and “represent” how they think the corporations should be run. This gives them many opportunities.
People contact the Yes Men thinking they are part of organizations such as the WTO. This video documents one of their performances as representatives of the WTO. This gross proposal for the future food industry is offensive to all humans who eat food, and specifically people in third world countries.
This comical approach is more than likely illegal, and can be very offensive. Does the fact that they are defacing corporations illegally affect how you view their work? Our country is essentially run by these corporations. Is it going too far to make a mockery out of them? The WTO had to change their policies because of the damage the Yes Men did to their reputation. This changes policies for the whole world. Should artists like this be allowed to make work like this or should they be punished?
The Yes Men change their identities to reach these big corporations. Who says that their methods are the best way to bring equality and transformation to lives? Are these two men more qualified than the people they are taking down?
Gomez-Pena ends this clip, “I talk, therefore I am.” What is he?
America was built on the principal, “All men are created equal.” Is that consistent to how we act today? The statistics would probably say yes. America is made up of people from all cultures and countries. We represent the whole world. Aren’t we more than statistics though?
Along with the diversity of America comes many stereotypes. Gomez-Pena objectifies himself, and removes what he knows about himself. Do we actually think like this? Do we think we know something about someone because they have a mustache? Or because they have brown skin? Or because they are a woman?
America is a dangerous culture full of degrading messages. Advertising tells us what kind of car to drive and what kind of make-up to wear. Our culture tells us to be skinny and fills our bodies with high-fructose-corn-syrup. Human equality happens both on an individual and a political level. There is an interesting conversation going on about immigration, one of the main topics that all three of these artists address. The conversation is that America’s resources are produced at a low cost due to government funding supporting these agribusinesses. NAFTA and the WTO make it possible to trade these low cost goods to neighboring countries. This can be a good thing, as it provides food at a lower cost for people in low-income areas. But a negative affect is that it puts people like mexican farmers out of work, which results in migration. We also have many rules in place to make it difficult to let these people to enter our country, resulting in what we call “Illegal aliens.” This is an issue of human equality. Are we forcing people to come here, and then asking why they came? Are we judging their identity or race without having a full understanding of where they came from? Do we ever think that we are more valuable than other people simply because we are from America? Are we really a free country or are WE the oppressors?
In “Quien Puede Borrar las Huellas?” (Who can erase the traces?), Regina walks from the congress of Guatemala building to the National Palace. She dips her feet in human blood as a protest against the presidential candidacy of Guatemala’s former dictator. Again, Regina takes the silent approach. Artists and activists know what she is protesting, but is this performance effective to onlookers? Judith Butler says, “It is primarily political interests which create the social phenomena of gender itself, and without a radical critique of gender constitution feminist theory fails to take stock of the way in which oppression structures the ontological categories through which gender is conceived.”(3) This translates to all issues of human equality. Can you have a political message that does not correlate with individual experience or vice versa?
What would our society be like without the arts? What if all artists collaborated together for one large social push? Would we effectively get what we want? Could we all agree on any one issue even if it was as simple as human equality?
This exhibition is not meant to bring an answers. It is meant to bring conversation. These performances were done by people. These people care about other people. These works suggest that we don’t always listen to the big voices, but rather care about the little voices. And these artists are doing this in the midst of their own flaws, ignorance and frustration. And in my own ignorance, I am suggesting that we start these conversations. Transformation of nations will only happen if we have liberation and healing within ourselves.
Regardless of which method of performance resonates with you most effectively, keep in mind that the best jazz musicians just like to keep playing. It is not always about finishing the song, but finding a union and rhythm that resonates with your soul.
1. http://www.skabeat.com/jazz/
2. Kristine Stiles, "Eye/Oculus: performance, installation and video" p. 186.
3. Judith Butler, "Performative Acts and Gender Constitution," p. 163.
No comments:
Post a Comment