Post-Performance Review: Circling Square @ Union Square Park, 14 St for AIOP Festival

On October 7th & 8th 2011, ‘Circling Square’ was performed in the Union Square Park on 14 Street as part of an Open Call Proposal to Artinoddplaces (AIOP) Performance Festival, NYC.

Art in Odd Places (AiOP) presents visual and performance art in public spaces with an annual festival each October along 14th Street in Manhattan, NYC from Avenue C to the Hudson River. Art in Odd Places aims to stretch the boundaries of communication in the public realm by presenting artworks in all disciplines outside the confines of traditional public space regulations. AiOP reminds us that public spaces function as the epicenter for diverse social interactions and the unfettered exchange of ideas.

This year’s theme: RITUAL features a wide variety of actions, participatory performances, theatrical presentations, public installations, and small and large-scale interventions all of which revolve around the concept of ritual.

A ritual is generally defined as a series of established actions that are carried out in private or public spaces, by individuals or by groups, for their spiritual, social, or political significance. Tapping into the everyday significance of these habits, the artists in AiOP 2011: RITUAL continuously integrate these practices in their work to explore a broad range of issues in contemporary life such as politics, culture, religious beliefs, notions of individuality and community, the endurance of the body and the fragility of life, the relationship with nature, among many others.

‘Circling Square’ was conceived to touch on the politics of space and history on 14th Street. It would reflect a drawing of a visual journey of the artist to the cityscape. It would explore what it means to in today’s context about sacrifice or cremation, burial or disposal environments and explore the natural, the man-made, the cultural & psychological aspects of man.

‘Circling Square’ is an extension of ‘Silent Cloak (Jubah Kersserpi)’, which was performed in Buka Jalan International Performance Festival, Kuala Lumpur.

The performance, ‘Silent Cloak’ expresses concerns of silence as a suppressed form married out from the traditions and cultures of my heritage as a Chinese – Singaporean living in a diversified country with some governance over religious affairs. I had engaged audiences of each race in Malaysia to be transformed by the presence of covering a cloth, hidden behind a statement which deprives the participant the basic rule of speech, command and decision. They seem to resemble silent sculptures inanimated and incapable of speaking for themselves. I question if the basic rule of speech, command and decision has already been subjected to suppression from the practices of cultural inhabitations or does it already exist in our conscious practice of everyday life in physical activity and intellectual thinking.

With ‘Circling Square’ I had the chance to further expand this project by interacting with the audiences through a participatory action. Some of my initial plan for the performance altered when I was present in NYC itself. Sometimes it could be the amount of time and assistance I had but also with performance art, this is a natural action as performance art taps on the temporal and flexibility of the environment and people.

I was very much inspired with the history of Union Square Park being that countless important community events and festivals took place in Union Square; from the first Labor Day parade in 1882 to workers’ rallies in the 1930s to the first Earth Day in 1970. This former burial ground has seamlessly transitioned from a town square to a bustling City park where statues of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Mohandas Gandhi, and Marquis de Lafayette are commemorated in the park.

My proposal then altered to highlight the actions of these events through the act of a prayer for kindness and freedom.

As I walk through Union Square Park on every 10th step, I stopped and kneeled to pray to the skies before getting up to approach a citizen to request if I could listen to their heart (beat). Once a citizen allows me to listen to their heart, I put my ear close in and say repeated words of prayer for hope, freedom, anti-corruption and all the vices as humans we are capable of. There were several people who were reluctant to engage with me and so I had to move on and seek others who would participate. There were 2 young volunteers whom I picked out from Union Square Park 30 mins before my performance to assist in the distribution of the flyers which had information and content about the performance and my works. This sort of spontaneous energy reflects on the attitude of New Yorkers.

As I make my round round the Park, there was a big crowd of people either following behind taking photos or following me as I approached strangers. I think they wanted to know what I was going to do and alot of times I could sense uncertainty, unclarity in many of the audiences mind. The performance had to carry on despite these feelings. What was interesting for me was the connection I had when I rest my head close to the chests of these strangers whom has little issue opening themselves to another total stranger and one who is especially dressed in a weird outfit pieced together by several cloth. This act of hugging, listening close into their heart beat clarifies a message I was able to communicate about humanity completed my performance project in Union Square Park.

An audience at the performance, Sumitha Poonia Murthy comments, “An authentic performance that made me appreciate the arts from a different perspective. The courageous and beautiful delivery from the performer left me in awe and in anticipation of what could be next. It set me thinking about the beauty of creation where each individual’s interest is so unique and different from another. In all, it is a performance that would be etched in my memory.”

Jeremy said, “I was sitting on a bench in Union Square Park, reading and enjoying the afternoon. Suddenly there emerged into my field of view a striking woman, kneeling and praying; she was attended by several other people and had a long, red train extending behind her. To my surprise, she looked directly at me, and approached me without hesitation. She explained that she was doing a performance and asked me if she could please listen to my heart. I said yes, and she placed her ear to my chest and listened intently to my heart. I truly felt blessed in that moment, and felt a true connection to this other human being, a complete stranger.”

Cordell Murray, one of the photographers from AIOP gave me a review of my performance too. This is what he wrote, ‘When I stood next to Jacquelyn as she straightened out the longest dress I’ve ever seen, in the middle of 200 random people, I was intrigued. So much where I couldn’t get to work and take a photo because I was enjoying what my eyes were seeing.

My favorite part of her performance was observing her interact with people she didn’t know & asking them if she could listen to their heart. The individual responses would always surprise me because everyone responded differently. Whoever said yes, had Jacquelyn put her face against their chest and close her eyes. Upon the opening of her eyes she read aloud a poem.

I enjoyed seeing it all pure in action. I didn’t see her rehearse, practice, read notes or anything. She just got dressed, walked through crowds and shocked the public with her quiet but loud appearance & interacted with people in a truly artistic way. She also had a great following. People were confused and those that had to know what was going on followed the crowd. I had many people ask me during her walk around union square “What is this?” I just boldly gave them her flyer & continued taking photos.

The most unique part of her performance to me, is her reaching out & actually listening to the beat of peoples hearts. The heartbeat is something we forget. It is the beautiful unique music of ongoing life. Nobody chooses to be intimate in that way anymore. But Jacquelyn acknowledges that there is something within that heartbeat, so much that she’ll listen to it & read it a poem.’

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Title: Circling Square
Medium: Performance Art
Year: Oct 2011
Location: New York City, USA for Artinoddplaces Performance Festival
Photo credit: Cordell Murray, USA
Supported by: National Arts Council & Singapore International Foundation

Preparing for Performance AIOP: Circling Square

13 Sept 2011: 11am – 2pm

Relooked at the costume I had for Buka Jalan International Performance Festival since “Circling Square” is a continuation of “Silent Cloak – Jubah Kersserpi” which looks at silencing, covering, concealing or hiding our realities/cultures.

I reworked on the fabric by sewing in more pieces of cloth so I think the material now stretches close to 10meters. I will go around looking for more cloth so I can stretch it even further.

My maid helped me to stitch a cloth too. So sweet of her, Thanks Ma and she got me thinking about new ideas for the work too as we speak of her life in Indonesia and her children.

Buka Jalan International Performance Festival – Jacquelyn Soo: Silent Cloak (Jubah Kersserpi), February 2011

Buka Jalan International Performance Festival had given me alot to think my own art practice as an artist searching for reconciliation with her culture in the time of globalization and culture ‘blindness’.

This culture ‘blindness’ which I speak of is the relationship we have had with our ancestry, with our heritage, family, foundations and traditions that are bounded or binded in us as a social and family condition. As we turn into modernalisation, we start discerning ourselves away from the foundation to question the self and communal expression in modern subjects which we have inevitably adapt to inherit.

This separation is a result of a few reasons; namely, the modernisation of our world, the evolving perception and attitudes habited by a large scale of people, the changes in the educational knowledge imparted in our studies and finally, the individual decision to ‘look’ forwards, inwards or universally the meaning of the self and the extended self.
In my performance with Buka Jalan International Performance Festival 2011 titled, ‘ Silent Cloak – Jubah Kersserpi ‘, the understanding of silence as a suppressed form married out from the traditions and cultures of my heritage as a Chinese – Singaporean living in a diversified country with some governance over religious affairs but with little communal or practice of traditions brought forth in this audience participatory work which I had engaged the physical form of each race in Malaysia to be transformed by the presence of covering, or hidden behind a statement which deprives the participant the basic rule of speech, command and decision. They seem to resemble silent sculptures unanimated and incapable of speaking for themselves.

I question if the basic rule of speech, command and decision has already been subjected to suppression from the practices of cultural inhabitations or does it already exist in our conscious practice of everyday life in physical activity and intellectual thinking.
I had the chance to explore this challenge by interacting with National Art Gallery premises and the audiences who had came to visit the Festival. In Malaysia, the population is a well mix of Malays, Indians, Chinese, Eurasians, Caucasians and Others. The diversity in the country is precisely how and why I could challenge the audience to think about their own cultural background and attitude towards their individual perception as a citizen of a modern world.