we hold it in our hands 2016
PERFORMANCE DESCRIPTION:
An interactive performance by Diane The American Swimmer…
A simple gesture- cupping water from the Boston Harbor in her hands… or an attempt to-
succeeding only with help…
(I can actually keep a small amount of water in my hand for only ten minutes… the performance lasts an hour, and can possibly run for the duration of the afternoon, depending on participation and assistance from visitors)
As Diane the American Swimmer holds the water cupped in her hands, she will bombastically claim that SHE CAN DO IT; all the while, drops of water slip through her fingers…
she can only ‘do it’ if she gets help from the Boston community…
A bucket is situated on the floor, under her hands… and people are encouraged, through her whispers- in between the exaggerations and proclamations- to add water to her cupped hands from the bucket. The juxtaposition of the two voices, bombastic and loud versus whispered and urgent reflect aspects of our public discourse; and the trajectory of the piece depends on the public’s response to them.
CONTEXT AND PROJECT BACKGROUND:
Diane the American Swimmer is a recurring persona project.
She is a ridiculous character whose main mission is to represent YOU… She can do anything, cause she’s American.
What she does usually depends on how the public interacts with her…
Through this character, I have done performances around and about water. In a global context, these interventions might be framed by the legacies of imperialism, colonialism, hegemony, questioning such things as: What does it mean to be a US citizen in our global community? What relationships do individuals have to their own nationality? How do iconic figures speak for others?
For this performance, as in my past performance at a fracking site in Pennsylvania, I am considering a local context, Boston Harbor. The Harbor cleanup represents one of the most important civic actions in Massachusetts’ history. This performance encourages, celebrates, as well as reminds us all of our collective responsibility for defining what our institutions and public figures represent… government, military, even sports figures, etc. …
As in, we have the ability and responsibility to clean the water everywhere, and to keep it clean. Doing the performance at Fort Warren is important to the intention of the piece… It brings up questions of who we are as citizens, and what defense, security and protection might mean in terms of our environment.
The performance is not just a reminder to recognize the importance of a clean harbor… but also a call to acknowledge the fragility of the limited scope of attention to environmental destruction in the state… There are currently over 30 Superfund sites in Massachusetts, including the harbor in New Bedford.
