August 13, 2004
front - I know you wanna
who is rubber and who is glue?
front, by Ralph Borland (South Africa), Jessica Findley and Margot Jacobs (both USA), consists of two performance suits, each with 'offensive' and 'defensive' inflatable air sacs. After suiting up over their own clothes, the two participants have a bit of a screaming match. Hidden microphones pick up the amplitude of their screams, and the battle begins. The suit of the performer who is louder (at any given time) will have offensive parts (like horns) that inflate, and defensive parts (like a constrictive neckpiece) that deflate - his or her opponent's suit will do the reverse.
Aside from the obvious performative strength behind sheer volume, and the animal-like battles that often arise from front, I can't help but wonder how this might work on a large scale. Who is to say these suits can't speak over a longer distanced network; what, where or who else could we effect? Where can I get a pair of these for my next poetry slam? Talk about blowing up in an argument....(Posted by Nathaniel Stern)
Posted by at August 13, 2004 08:34 AM
