Today (Yesterday) I conducted my first
performance experiment in my upper division
new genres art class. The class was just finishing the
crit of Ricci's absolutely amazing video, when a terrible beeping began. It was a
Radio Shack extra loud alarm clock locked in a box, and when the class got around to checking it out, and unplugged it, the
backup battery kicked in and it kept going. The project consisted of a series of
puzzles they had to solve to get the box open to shut off the alarm, and then to get out of the
classroom (an accomplice had barred them in). They eventually got antsy, with Jessica complaining that she had to pee so badly that it hurt, that I let them out before they finished. I'm kind of upset at her for that; if I had done a "normal" performance piece, she would have walked out either during the performance or during the crit, both of which are directly insulting to the artist (me).
In my acting workshop, a girl I know (hers is the third to last vagina I've touched, if I remember the order of everything correctly), announced, for what I considered to be more than adequate reasons, that she had been raped in May. It did not change my Crowley-style anarchism, but it did convince me more thoroughly that I must tack on a "crypto-" if I don't want to lose social capital. I felt sorry for her and I wanted to express my sympathy and gratefulness for her bravery and sharing with us, but I had to go after class to pay rent for the co-ops, so I couldn't.
Design was frustrating today. I spent the whole time trying to find a house in Amber's face, and I eventually came up with the beginnings of a design, but it was much harder than the automatic drawing that we did for the teapot and cup exercise. I am more attracted than ever to Aja, and my critical mind is throwing its hands up in the air. Physically, she is exactly what society tells me to be attracted to. Consciousness of the mechanisms of control, and opposition to them in theory, does not free me from their influence.
Then, for three hours I played poker at the Convent. Ed, Gidon, Ivan, and I were the nucleus of the game, and Dave and an Israeli (Asi?) played some too. 5-card draw, of course, but also seven card stud, hi-lo (of various stripes, Omaha, headlight, Iron Cross, and Texas Hold 'em. We played penny ante, although it was rare that the pot was below a dollar or so. I lost four dollars right away and gradually won it back, so that I ended almost $1.50 ahead.
A bowl of coffee ice cream, and now home to Al Bowker's place, a daylog, and I'll be going to bed soon. I have class all day tomorrow, and plenty to do afterwards. I should be asleep already.
Fnord