Activism
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The document discusses Lynn Hershman, a pioneer in interactive computer and net-based media arts. It describes some of her projects that explored concepts of artificial intelligence and virtual reality, such as creating characters like Roberta Breitmore and interactive works like Conceiving Ada. Her work with creating artificial intelligence characters like Dina, based on actress Tilda Swinton, aimed to have conversations about current affairs. The document also discusses George Belliveau, who created an anti-bullying play called Wasn't Me! with students to perform for schools, influenced by forum theatre techniques.
Activism
- 1. ACTIVISM Performance and Performitivity
- 2. RESISTANT PERFORMANCE By: Marvin Carlson BIOGRAPHY Ph.D. in drama and theatre from Cornell University City University of New York Graduate Center in the Ph .D. program of Theatre and Comparative Literature Researching and teaching include dramatic theatre and literature, as well as Western European theatre history of the18 th ,19 th , and 20 th centuries ACHIEVEMENTS ATHE Career Achievement Award George Jean Nathan Prize Bernard Hewitt Prize George Freedley Award A Guggenheim Fellowship In 2001, his book The Haunted Stage won the Callaway Prize His best known book, Theories of the Theatre has been translated into five different languages Awarded honorary doctorate from University of Athens in 2005
- 3. Summary Modern Women’s Movement- late 1960s Miss America Pageant- 1968 WITCH (Women’s International Terrorist Conspiracy from Hell) Guerrilla & other street theatre Ulrike Rosenbach & Valie Export- “Feminist actionism” Freud- male as dominant subject in patriarchal culture Men as viewer, women as desirable object Judith Butler- gender a “performative,” aka a “doing” Innovative Agency “ The master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house” - Audre Lorde ‘ Mimicry’- make spectacle of oneself in order to draw attention to the spectacle itself Gay and lesbian camp performances are strong examples of resistant performance
- 4. Lateral Research The system: traditional theatre and visual art assumes a male spectator and offers females as the “other” – “the object of the male’s desiring gaze” (Carlson 233) relates to Laura Mulvey’s theory of “the male gaze” discusses how “mainstream Hollywood films represent women characters as passive objects of male sexual desire” theory of the male gaze: male characters are “bearers of the look” women are seen as objects both physically & sexually and also desirable characters “cultural practice that has made of woman an object, a category, a sign” “ watch cinematic films through the eyes of the dominant male protagonists…” “The traditional audience is assumed to be the male subject, and the woman on stage”
- 5. GUERRILLA GIRLS Case Study #1 Reinventing the ‘F’ word – feminism http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=Oytwe5nVjg4
- 6. Relevance What word associations do you make when you hear the term ‘guerrilla’? Masculinity, Aggressive, Destructive, Powerful The Guerrilla Girls strive to incorporate these aspects into their art Guerrilla art term refers to art that is created in the streets opposed to government sponsored, commercial venues Traditional graffiti, flash mobbing,...
- 7. Guerrilla History Guerrilla girls developed in New York in 1985 Primarily created to grab people’s attention regarding the male dominated art world Use ‘comic book’ style and humour to grab people’s attention Less than 5% of the artists in the MET's modern art sections were women, but 85% of the nudes were female The following is their most famous poster which is seen in a variety of texts
- 9. Public Sphere Invasive- gives little option to viewer Bringing a lesser subject to the attention of the public Not defeated by commercial art Comic book style Innovative Bright colour scheme They represent in costume as well; gorilla mask, mini skirt with fish net stockings, and take on dead female celebrity names Rapport with their viewer- more interactive Guerrilla Art
- 10. Class Discussion Do you think that resistant performance is a good method to generate a message? Do you think that the Guerrilla Girls encapsulate all the elements of resistant performance? If not, what elements do you think they need to incorporate?
- 11. PARDON ME BUT THE ART IS MOUTHING OFF By: Jori Finkel Lynn Hershman 64yr old digital media artist Completed her Masters in Art Explored artificial intelligence and virtual reality Participated in activities such as photography, painting, performance art, video, laserdiscs, DVD’s, web-based work, artificial intelligences and interactive sculptures A pioneer in interactive computer and net based media arts 1993 Donald Hess bought the entire Roberta archives Steve Dietz displayed Lynn’s work at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis University of California Press published an anthology that consisted of 10yrs documenting various projects of Lynn DINA’s Programmer: Colin Klingman
- 12. Hershmann’s Projects Creating Roberta Breitmore 1974- 1978 Character Study Divorced, blonde, heavy makeup and depressed Owned her own apartment, had a drivers license and 2 credit cards After 3yrs Kristine Stiles took over the role of Roberta
- 13. Creating Lorna- 1 st Interactive Laserdisc 1984 Originally conceived as an interactive game Always prevailed a sad portrait of a woman (like Roberta)
- 14. Movie: Conceiving Ada (1997) Bringing Ada Lovelace (Lord Byron’s daughter) back to life through computer programming
- 15. Movie: Teknolust (2002) A story of a geeky biogeneticist who uses her own DNA to create 3 computer-bred clones Marinne Olive Ruby http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jAwudHeZhQ
- 16. Creating DINA (2004) Originally could only communicate through keyboard but now has progressed to speech Ruby was an earlier model but Dina contained twice as much programming Both Ruby and Dina had the face of actress Tilda Swinton Dina is a flat screened monitor equipped with voice recognition software- artificial intelligence Purpose was to chat about current affairs
- 17. Lateral Research “ Men seem to like Ruby more…she’s funnier and quirkier, and they are put off by DiNA’s intelligence” a past notion that men were smarter and more successful than women and felt threatened by intelligent women DiNA, an all knowing, interactive and intelligent robot = how women have gained power and an identity for themselves, not imprisoned by the ‘male gaze’ Men interacting with DiNA = how men have more respect for women today, they are seen as an equal and not looked down upon Tilda Swinton representing the face of DiNa = how women of today are beautiful and intelligent
- 18. Lateral Research (cont’d) **BUT some female robots degrade women** Vodka: http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93/Yadali/svedka_girl.gif Heinekin: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-NfrBgYIEQ They are completely plastic/metal and have the bare essentials, lips, chest, behind, a seductive look promoting traditional sexist standards Represents the only features of a woman in the eyes of a man Robots are “human slaves”, controllable and programmable men control women, have them when, as and how they want them, “ FEMBOTS” represent women as male prisoners, imprisoned by their sexual and empowering needs Ads using robots to promote their products Robots have become “sex symbols”
- 19. STRUGGLE TO SUCCESS By: George Belliveau George Belliveau is an Assistant Professor in the faculty of Education at the University of P.E.I. Belliveau teaches Integrated Arts and Drama Education The anti- bullying collective drama Wasn’t Me! is a play created by Belliveau and a group of students from the education program of the University of P.E.I. Over their 5 week teaching practicum in 2002 the group of students and Belliveau presented the play to over 30 schools Influenced by: - The Shape of a Girl by Joan MacLeod - Augusta Boal’s Forum Theatre Patrick Verriour and Carol Tarlington’s Role Drama Other bullying related performances - Personal experiences of the actors and writers
- 20. 1.Exploring and Researching Main theme or topic Target play at students between the grade of 7 and 9 Focus mainly on the bystanders of bullying Discussions with guidance counselors, schools with anti-bullying initiatives, literature on bullying and websites Focuses on a girl who is struggling with issues at home and therefore results in her bullying a young boy at school Desire to be a performer increased by many Everyone became involved in the acting, setting, writing, directing, content and overall mood of the play 2. Framing
- 21. 3. Sequencing Non-linear presentation Caused some anxiety because they were fearful that the audience would not be able to follow Has a circular structure beginning and ending for the search of a little boy named Tim Results in a more engaging script The time rehearsing (3 to 4 solid days) took much less time than scripting Transitions, music and connecting scenes Developed post-performance activities for the audience members 4. Rehearsing
- 22. 5. Performing Well received by the Department of Education, Teachers Federation, School Boards, principals, teachers and intermediate students Media coverage (newspapers, radio and television) The Shape of a Girl and Augusta Boal’s Forum Theatre was evident in the production of Wasn’t Me! Tim is the victim of bullying and he never appears on stage and in the end he is the boy that goes missing and results in a search Focuses on a female aggressor as she manipulates and bullies a male victim Drama overall is a powerful medium for providing messages and educating youth on current affairs
- 23. Lateral Research Relates to David Diamond’s Form Theatre that discusses social issues: drugs, violence, alcohol, etc. “ Drama is a powerful medium for providing learning for people at all stages of life, and creating collective drama, rather than using scripted text, further heightens individual and collective satisfaction…” David Diamond: “…the Forum Theatre events were able to explore a lot of creative options that were perception altering, and sometimes skill building, for everyone involved…” David Diamond even helped with an anti-bullying production Don’t Say a Word form of “activist theatre” that tries to raise awareness about issues and persuade people to take action
- 24. Lateral Research (cont’d) Other anti-bullying programs: Safe Canada : Anti bullying programs and preventative measures Ministry of Education : register for bullying prevention programs Peaceful Schools International : resources, support and ideas on bullying
- 25. Lateral Research (cont’d) The media draws a lot of attention to bullying, in a positive light, seen as “cool” and accepted http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Wcx2qM5C4g&feature=related Kids are influenced by this bullying exposure and don’t see it as being bad Bullies are often the ‘popular’ kids Female bullies are referred to as “mean girls,” and male bullies as “cool guys” Bullying is sometimes an answer to one’s insecurity more of a question of how to raise kid’s self esteem and acceptance of others and differences (social, physical, mental, etc.) Relates to Hebdige’s subcultural people who, in an attempt to resist mainstream culture, often face bullying, their outspoken identity is ridiculed because it goes against the norm
- 26. Our Performance Starring: Instigator Bully Victim Bystander Confronter
- 27. Class Discussion The text as well as our play, shows bullying occurs well into adult circumstances. Do you think that resistant performances being exposed to us at a younger age alters our frame of reference regarding bullying?