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missblissy · 3 years

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I don't think I even need to ask but 👀👀👀👀 7 with Alastor. Tyty.

((Hi welcome to the HC where Alastor has a degrading kink of some kind so I wrote this as soon as I got the chance to. And No problem Nonny >w> I hope you enjoy!! Here is the song featured in this fic!!))

Kisses || 7: Passionate kisses || Closed!!

He sat there, fingers on the ivory keys, looking at you as if you were the only person left in this burning hellscape of a world. This was it, the moment of his life he looked forward to most. Nothing else filled him with the desire he had now, as he watched you circle him on this stage. He played the piano, you sang the song. It was as simple as that. Perfection at its finest. The crowd watched, enjoying what little entertainment this hotel had to offer. You took in a breath, eyes only on Alastor. You didn't care about anything else, not the crowd, not the stage. It was only him, this was only for him. He wore only a red shirt, with his sleeves rolled up, exposing the odd nature and truth of his gloves, which weren't gloves at all. There was something sexy about that though, the way the dark colorations bleed like veins up his arms. Alastor even tried his bowtie for a regular tie and he lacked his monocle. You, on the other hand, had a lovely matching red dress, the sleeves hung just off the shoulders, leaving them bare and exposed. Your dress glittered ever so slightly under the spotlight and as you walked slowly, the long side slit shows your slender legs, with black heels. The two of you made quite the handsome pair.

You perked your rosy lips and as you walked by him, you made sure to trail your fingers along his shoulder, to his neck, and along his other shoulder, "Missed me, missed me, now you've got to kiss me. If you kiss me, mister, I might tell my sister. If I tell her, mister, she might tell my mother and my mother, mister, she might tell my father! And my father, mister, he won't be too happy... And he'll have his lawyer to come up from the city and arrest you, mister, so I wouldn't miss me. If you get me, mister, see!"

The piano keys bucked out their notes with each aggressive keynote. He was entrapped in your gaze, sexy and hungry and willing to be misled by you. He narrowed his gaze as you made your way around the piano. Just as before, you traced your fingers along, taking slow long steps with the sway of your hips. But the thing that struck him the most was how you sang in such a low whisper. Of course, it was into an old microphone (Which honestly didn't make it better) but your voice was hushed into a whisper as if it was only for him to hear, despite being on a stage, "Missed me, missed, me now you've got to kiss me, If you kiss me, mister, you must think I'm pretty... If you think so, mister, you must want to fuck me! If you fuck me, mister, it must mean you love me- If you love me, mister, you would never leave me! It's as simple as can be!"

You winked at him and gave a little flip of your hair as the sound of a coin slot in the background matched your body language. And with every new verse, Alastor only played the piano louder, more aggressively. The flicker in his eye and the lust in his red gaze only pushed you furthered on. You circled around him a second time, eventually stopping behind him, you leaned over his shoulder and sang in a soft voice, toying with his emotions, "Missed me, missed me, now you've got to kiss me. If you miss me, mister, why do you keep leaving? If you trick me, mister, I will make you suffer! And they'll get you, mister, put you in the slammer, and forget you, mister! Then you'll miss me, won't you...? Won't you miss me? Won't you miss me? Won't you miss me?"

You draped your arms over him, letting your hands run down the front of his chest, slipping over the silk of his suit. You made sure to lean in and smile while watching his fingers along with the white keys, "Missed me, missed me, now you've got to kiss me. If you kiss me, mister, take responsibility. I'm fragile, mister, just like any girl would be. And so misunderstood! So treat me delicately..."

Quickly you moved away from him and dramatically threw a hand in the air, basking it over your face as if to block out the sun. You did a twirl until you stopped beside the piano and flung yourself over it. The slit up your dress exposed your leg as you lifted it up and crossed it over the other, "Missed me, missed me, now you've gone and done it! Hope you're happy in the county penitentiary! It serves you right for kissing little girls! But I will visit, if you miss me, say you miss me!" You paused then sat up straight and turned your head quickly to face Alastor. Your hair bounced and swished into your face as you put a finger to your lip and asked in an innocent voice, "How's the food they feed you? Do you miss me? Will you... kiss me through the window? Do you miss me, miss me.. ?" You pushed yourself off the piano and walked quickly back to Alastor, standing behind him once again as you let a hand trail down the side of his face. And as if you were really asking it, you sang out your last line, "Will they ever let you go? I miss my mister so."

With the last note from the piano, the curtains swished together, closing you two of from the crowd. With the newfound privacy, you sashayed your way over to him. As he held out his hand, you slipped your fingers across his, down his pam, and latched on to his wrist as he pulled you towards him. Your finger intertwined with his, while his other hand snaked around your waist, resting near your lower back. He held you standing there, one of his knees between your legs. He brought the back of your hand to his lips and gave it a soft kiss, "You love making me out to be the bad guy, don't you?" He flicked his gaze up to you, half-lidded and dark.

"You're horrible," You teased, then smirked as you tilted your head slightly, loose strands of hair falling into your face, "Terrible, utterly disgusting."

Alastor gave your arm a gentle yank but strong enough to swiftly pull you in, "Go on," He took his hand and grabbed your by your chin, his thumb running over your bottom lip.

You took this chance to get closer, only inches from his face, "A degenerate, dumpster fire of a man. A truly wretched soul,"

"Oh you're too kind, my little doe," His gaze tore into you, dark, red, and glowing with passion. He took a long stare letting his eyes travel over your body that so perfectly fit the damn dress, "Anything else?"

"You're awful in every way that I love," You grabbed him by his tie and pulled him as close as he could possibly get, "I hate you, do you love me?"

He pulled in a long deep breath that followed with a low a deep growl of a laugh. It was twisting around in the static of his radio-tinted voice, going as low to make him sound like an animal hiding in the dark. He took the chance to close the space between you and connect your lips. At the same time his arms wrapped around you while his claws dug into your skin.

The prick of his teeth tugging at your lips, enticing you to give in made it hard to resist him. You could feel the smirk off his lips and even the echo of his laughter as you melted into his embrace. You found yourself week, letting a hiccup of a moan slip from your lungs. Alastor made quick work to kiss your even harder, deepening the kiss until he had tasted every part of your mouth. He started to pull away but you wanted more. The weight shifted between you two. You could feel him shift and give way as you crawled into his lap. There was a point there when you thought you both might have tipped off the bench and into the piano. But that never happened, so you curled your arms around Alastor's neck while a pair of fingers tangled into his hair. Shivers traveled down your skin as you felt his fingers drift up your back and tug at the back hems of dress, not too far from where the zipper could be, if only he really meant it and wasn't teasing you instead.

You let out a growl and pulled away quickly. You had to catch your breath, and as you huffed with a dark blush on your face, Alastor looked over your perfect and flustered face. He soaked in the fact that he could make you like this, flushed red cheeks, lust in your eyes, and gasping for air.

He had enough of being here, toying with you behind the curtains of a stage. With one arm around you, he pulled you close and his face was well pressed against your chest. His smile was large and wicked as he used his free hand to snap his fingers. In a cloud of smoke and screens, the two of you had vanished from sight, well into the shadows and far away from any prying eyes to witness what happened next.

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ncnshou · 5 years

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// thought my tags worked, but guess not ... so here we go unu) //

#&&. / ‘ the epitome of opposition ’ ; ( visage. )#&&. / ‘ learning to live and move on ’ ; ( main. )#&&. / ‘ the loved ones saved from fire ’ ; ( feat. )#&&. / ‘ melodies that once sat sweetly on the tongues of the unaffected ’ ; ( audio. )#&&. / ‘ tfw no gf ( good father ) ’ ; ( crack. )#&&. / ‘ shouto.exe has stopped working ’ ; ( ooc. )#&&. / ‘ classroom shenanigans ’ ; ( dash comm. )#&&. / ‘ the warmth that melted away the ice concealing his heart. ’ ; ( tddk. )#&&. / ‘ they say madness creates a monster. what sort of madness created you? ; ( enji. )#&&. / ‘ a bond formed through trust and genuine affection ’ ; ( bias list. )#&&. / ‘ show them the fragile truth you hide so ’ ; ( hc. )#&&. / ‘ letters to the boy ’ ; ( inbox. )#&&. / ‘ answers from the boy ’ ; ( answered. )#&&. / ‘ once we sat in our kingdom with hope and pride ’ ; ( royal au. )#&&. / ‘ the dragon’s crooked spine will never straighten into line ’ ; ( dragon age au. )#&&. / ‘ i have stood for thousands of years and have not faltered. the day i met you my legs shook ’ ; ( TDBK. )#&&. / ‘ a treasured gift ’ ; ( save. )#&&. / ‘ becoming a greater icon than the one that created him ’ ; ( self promo. )#&&. / ‘ let those who deserve the light have it shine brightly on them ’ ; ( promo )#&&. / ‘ a boy burned by love and frozen by fear and created by both ’ ; ( musings. )#&&. / ‘ the kindness in her heart was more than he needed. the fear he gave off was more than she could handle ’ ; ( mother. )

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drunkbatya · 4 years

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Pinocchio!AU | HC

Pinocchio!AU, in which lies grow not the nose, but another part of the body.

I don't even know how to start this story. Maybe that way...

— Richard was remarkable for two things: 1) one part of his body grew larger when he lied; 2) he was a pathological liar and sometimes couldn't control it;

— Whatever it really is, the most logical thing to do is to call it a curse, perhaps even a generic one! And let's assume that a huge contribution to this story was made by chance or the vagueness of the wording, because no matter how uncomfortable it may be, when a man is able to legally grow his penis, it can not be called a curse;

— Let's say the text of the curse said that lying should grow a part of the body, but it did not specify which part. And whether it was an arm, leg, nose, or left ear, or even the little finger on the right foot, the curse would really be inconvenient and help to get rid of such a pernicious habit or at least to control it;

— Richard never worried about the curse, and of course he didn't try to get rid of it (he didn't even know he could), because no matter how inconvenient it was, the benefits were still significant, and it was a sin to refuse them;

— By the way, you're not born a pathological liar, and neither was Richard. He lived the life of an honest man until he found out about the existence of lies, and then things got a little out of control;

— We all know it's bad to lie, but Richard grew up in a world where it was safer to lie than to tell the truth. Eventually, it got to the point where he started lying all the time, even when it wasn't necessary. It came out of him unconsciously, and if it wasn't for the growing member, Richard would not have realized that he was lying;

— The problem with the lying begins in childhood. This was the most difficult period for Richard for many reasons: a) realizing that a lie is better and sweeter than the truth, and even more profitable, he began to lie constantly and uncontrollably; b) have you ever seen a child whose penis is dragging on the floor like a third paralyzed leg?

— Later, Richard learned to control it. And when I say "it", I mean the size of his dick. Did he lie less? No. Well... Yes, he did, because he became more silent with age, but every time he opened his mouth, 60% of what he said was a lie;

— Since he was not able not to lie, and a long dick, of course, cool, but not very convenient, he had to resort to a trick. It turns out that just as a lie increases the size of his reproductive organ, the truth cancels this change;

— The more terrible the lie, the bigger the penis and, of course, the more weighty the truth, the more lies it cancels;

— Technically, he can lie about small things to a rather "inconvenient" value, and then give out some revelation and return everything to "acceptable"; he can do the opposite — reduce a big lie to zero with small truths;

— Richard assumed that no matter how weighty the truth was, below a certain value (minimum) the size of his dick can not be reduced, so he can safely confess, without fear that the penis will shrink to microscopic size, rather remain as it should be;

— And Richard had no idea what size his penis was originally supposed to be, because by the time puberty was over, there wasn't a day when Richard didn't lie;

— In ordinary life, Richard tried to keep his mouth shut, so as not to say something superfluous, because we all know, or at least assume, that not only a bad dancer... well, you know;

— But on a date, you can lie a little, you can say a couple of false facts about yourself in the pool or on the beach or before going to the public toilet (because, oh my god, embarrassing men standing next to you with your huge penis is one of the things that always lifted Richard's mood, and if he did not want to show his member to people, he just went to the stall);

— Richard loved to literally measure dicks, because he was always the undisputed winner, shocking the fragile minds of children or the precarious mental health of adult men with his size. Yes, he was a cheater, but what did honesty matter? It had never given him as much moral satisfaction as a lie;

— Is the phrase "I have a huge penis" a lie? After all, if it's not huge, Richard will probably lie, but as soon as he lies, it will immediately become true, and then what? Will his penis shrink? But then the statement will be false and... what's next? Richard's dick in superposition?

— Richard couldn't be caught on the «your penis will increase by ten centimeters if you...» ad, because if Richard wanted to increase his penis, he simply answered his mother's question «have you smoked again?» with a confident «no»;

RICHARD AND GAVIN

— It`s very difficult to start an honest relationship when on the first date you have already raised the bar by thrusting a dick several times larger than the real size into your partner; — I can assure you that 'my penis is actually smaller' and 'it increases when I lie' will only come out of Richard's mouth when he is on his deathbed. There's no chance that Gavin will find out about this before, or maybe... — Everything secret becomes clear, we all know it, so no matter how much Richard wants to hide what is happening, sooner or later he will have to tell Gavin the truth (which will reduce his penis to the size of a molecule, he is sure of it!); — Anyway, Gavin wouldn't know the truth until Richard was sure enough about their relationship to open up, and if circumstances forced him to admit it sooner, he wouldn't. It's easier for him to break off a relationship than to admit something; — You understand that telling someone about his curse is literally giving them information that can and will be used against Richard, so his concerns are understandable; — At first, Gavin is shocked and has to take a long time to digest the fact that his young boyfriend is able to change the size of his penis depending on whether he is telling the truth or lying; — Actually, Gavin thinks it's unfair! He does not see anything wrong with lying, at least in a small things, and he is also very upset by the fact that for the rest of his life he will live with a penis that is just below the average size and he can do nothing about it (but he wants to!!!); — Gavin has already come up with 1001 ways to use his boyfriend's feature not in sex. At that moment, he already had a folder with Richard's dickpicks, which were used against the most persistent admirers who do not understand the word "no", but clearly understand what the photo of a huge member and the threat of reprisal hints at; — After Gavin was able to digest the "shocking" news, a genuine childish interest came to him, with exactly the kind that only boys have and only in relation to their penis; «Richie, how big can it be? Have you ever reached the upper limit? Have you ever gotten to the point where your pants couldn't stand it? Did it happen that he was too big and suddenly got erect?» — A lot of questions and a lot of things that Gavin would like to know. His scientific interest was aroused, he just wanted to understand what he was dealing with. Although it was just fun to learn and experiment or be the cause of curious situations that get out of control; — However, no matter how fun things are, in the end, there are more disadvantages than advantages for others; — Even if you know that all people lie, you will not be ready for it. And no matter how you feel about lying, suddenly the last thing you want to know in your life is when people are lying to you; — Even less you want to know that your boyfriend, with whom you seem to have moved to a new, more serious level of relations, turns out to be a pathological liar and hands you the opportunity to determine exactly when he is lying; — No matter how good this idea initially seemed, it is not very cool to realize that you are constantly being lied to, even in some minor details. First, what kind of honest and open relationships can we talk about? Second, it has a very strong effect on trust; «I can't figure out if you can't help lying, or if you just like it when your dick is hanging down to your knees?» «Both.» — Trust, but check! At one point, Gavin found himself unable to believe what Richard was saying, which was not surprising, but what was much worse... he was always looking for confirmation of the truth or falsity of his words... where? Right! Between his legs! This, by the way, was strange and a little confusing; — At some point, Gavin realized that he didn't need any hard evidence to see the difference between truth and lies, at least on some level of everyday life. It's as if he can feel or hear when Richard is lying, and there's no need to grab his cock at that moment; — The last thing a pathological liar wants to do, even if they know they can't control themselves, is let someone know they're lying. But you can always see the difference between truth and lies if you know how to do it; «You just lied to me, didn't you?» «No.» «Then how about taking off your pants and repeating it again?» «Okay, I lied!» — We all focus on the changing size of the penis, as if this is the main problem, but the problem is that Richard constantly lies. And Gavin wouldn't mind if he didn't know he was being lied to. A lie only makes sense when no one knows it's a lie; — It seemed like you could handle it, you could at least learn to live with it, and... yes, if it was about size variability, you could get used to it, but Gavin realized that he couldn't be in a relationship with someone he couldn't trust; — The worst part is that even if Richard once stops lying completely, it won't make much difference, because Gavin doesn't believe or trust him anymore, and it can take a very long time to get things back to the way they were; — In fact, Gavin doesn't mind lying, and he doesn't mind Richard lying. but at least not to him or so that he never found out about it, which is quite problematic, because unconsciously he is always looking for confirmation of words and simply can not forbid himself to check his boyfriend; — One day, Gavin realizes the relationship that was easy and fun for him suddenly begins to weigh on him. Have you ever regretted that a person was honest with you, because they told you the truth that broke everything to hell? Gavin always regrets it; — Imagine that perhaps the first and only time Richard was honest and told the hard truth instead of the easy lie, Gavin considers the worst moment that destroyed their relationship. And how can he not be a liar after that? More precisely, how can he not stop telling the truth after that? — In the end, Gavin sees only two options: either he and Richard break up and don't rape each other with it, or... Richard will have to control himself and learn not to lie impulsively to Gavin (ideally, of course, not to lie at all, but this is too much in the beginning); — Well, they will always have time to break up, but they can try to work on their relationship for a change right now. And here's the whole long story of changes in one sentence: it wasn't an easy work, but they did it; — In the end, they were able to find a working formula for their relationship, which, of course, did not imply that Richard refused to lie at all, but minimized it in the relationship to a minor; — His dick is still big, if you're interested. Richard wouldn't refuse that opportunity for sure. Even if you tell him that all these manipulations will end in a long and painful death, he will still lie so that his dick was a little bigger; — You know, no matter how much Richard wanted to be an honest person and no matter how much he wanted a healthy open relationship, he just couldn't live without the «big dick» advantage, even if the big dick is completely non-functional and only needed for... show off; — Gavin loved Richard, so he did his best to make sure that «a small problem doesn't become a big one because someone lies too much»; — Their relationship, by the way, was never on the edge of disaster and did not threaten to self-destruct because of the fact that Richard was lying. But problems that aren't solved tend to get worse, and Gavin knew it. He also didn't want to wait until things were disastrous for them to start doing something; — As a result, they found their way and learned to live with a problem that they could not solve. The relationship worked and worked well, and that's the main thing, isn't it? It was serious between them, or so it seemed; — And then during sex, Gavin said: «I love you», so Richard answered: «me too». And Reed felt the little asshole's cock grow bigger. Now Gavin is not sure of anything. Even whether they should break up or finish the sex first.

#dbh #detroit become human #gavin reed #rk900 #reed900 #text #au #hc #maybe it's a good idea #I turned a joke into a drama again

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kae-karo · 5 years

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to repent for ur sins i've decided that you can conjure up some childhood friends bkdk thots for me 😤

sdlkfjslkdfjlksd cowboy!shiggy is your hc i can’t elaborate on it the way u can - send me a bnha character or ship and i’ll give u my thots (x)!

but i shall gladly give u some bakudeku thots - i mean we all know the canon: baku was a babie asshole to deku and deku was as oblivious to the early childhood bullying as olaf is to his impending demise in his rendition of ‘in summer’. however, per rosey’s request, this is the fanon au we deserve where baku and deku were. actually friends lmao

baku, as a smol child, maybe for once in his damn life, could see things as they actually were. and he loved showing off his quirk for deku cause deku was always so excited about it???? and deku had always said (even before he got his quirk) that kacchan would be just as awesome as all might

i think some aspects of baku’s personality would still remain, like i don’t think he’d recognize how badly it hurt deku when he was told he didn’t have a quirk. and as little kids are prone to do, i think he’d still have made fun of deku for it without realizing

but deku still sticks around cause baku is still the coolest person he knows, and he still looks up to him, and baku starts to figure out that deku is much happier when he doesn’t talk as much about his own quirk. besides, plenty of other people ask him to show off his quirk, so he still gets to do it a lot. besides, he can show deku that he’s still the best even without a quirk. cause it wouldn’t be fair if he beat deku at all their games just cause he has a quirk and deku doesn’t

(like seriously imagine if baku had that attitude in canon lmao)

so instead of pushing deku away, they push each other to get stronger (quirk or no). they’re always in competition, but it’s not as enemies, it’s as friendly rivals. the first time deku broke a bone was falling from a tree seeing which of them could climb higher (get used to that feeling deku buddy) it’s also the first time baku figured out how to use his quirk to help him land safely on the ground - baku fell first, and deku tried to catch him

baku still absolutely hates accepting help from anyone, but deku’s figured out how to make everything sound like a competition. baku knows that’s exactly what he’s doing, but babie boye still has a fragile ego and is more than happy to let deku talk circles around it so he doesn’t have to feel like he’s accepting help

deku doesn’t mind tho, ya boi really really really really likes baku. but just as friends ofc cause like haha he doesn’t like, like-like kacchan. they’ve been friends for forever, they’re just really close!

baku’s crush on deku hits like a ton of bricks falling from a 30-story building, after deku beats him at some pointless competition that ended with both of them out of breath and ready to collapse (they were racing get y’alls minds out of the gutter) and deku actually did collapse but it was intentional and he was laughing and baku was just like ‘oh fuck. oh fuck.’ and he suddenly summoned the power to run another half mile all the way home and hide in his room and ignore his messages and try not to blow anything up cause his mom would kill him

from that point on, baku is very careful around deku. he doesn’t touch him, doesn’t get too close, tries not to stare for too long when deku’s laughing. it’s always the laughing that gets him

and then deku says he’s gonna try to get into UA just like kacchan. and baku’s pretty sure his heart snaps in half. because deku doesn’t have a quirk and it’d be impossible, but he can’t be the one to say that, can he? deku’s never listened to his mom about it, insisted he could become a hero anyway. baku always changed the subject

no, baku can’t be the one to crush deku’s dreams. maybe it’s because he’s selfish, because he couldn’t handle deku crying because of something he said. so he lets deku apply, keeps his mouth shut when deku sits in the seat beside him. and he offers a tight-lipped good luck to deku as they’re split up for their practical entry exam

and baku does well - of course he does, he’s been training in all his spare time. he’s strong, his quirk is strong. he’s always known that. deku’s told him time and time again

when he gets his acceptance letter, he doesn’t tell deku. he can’t be the reason deku grins through tears at him, says that he’s so proud of kacchan and he knows he’ll be the greatest hero ever. not when he knows deku couldn’t have beaten a single one of those robots without a quirk

it’s deku that comes to him, knocking on his window in the middle of the night like they used to do when they were little and pretending to play heroes and villains in the late hours of the evening. and baku stares hard at his wall and wills deku to go away but he doesn’t. he doesn’t and doesn’t and still doesn’t and baku throws off his covers with the intent to yell at deku and tell him to go away because that’s easier than telling him the truth, any of the truth

but deku’s right outside the window - the bastard climbed up the side of baku’s house - and he’s prying at baku’s locked window in vain. and baku stands on the inside, watching him until he finally looks up. he yelps and nearly falls off, and baku tries not to laugh because this is serious, whatever’s about to happen is serious.

he can’t avoid it though, so he opens the damn window and lets damn deku in and braces himself for the worst

and it’s so much worse than he could’ve ever anticipated

because deku has a quirk

#bnha #bakudeku #bakugou katsuki #midoriya izuku #i highkey want to write this #might save it for later and make a whole thing #dabidevito #ask #kt #ship thots

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veniceperformanceart · 7 years

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Ein Gespräch – A Conversation

By Aisha Ryannon Pagnes

Conversations between ART WEEK writer Aisha Ryannon Pagnes and artists and co-curators of the III Venice International Performance Art Week 2016.

Photograph © Claudia Popovici.

In order of appearance:

(LSC): Leisa Shelton-Campbell

(JK): Julius Kaiser

(ADR): Alexander Del Re

(ARP): Aisha Ryannon Pagnes

(K): Kyrahm

(NF): Nicola Fornoni

(DQ): Douglas Quin

(SW): Susanne Weins

(SV): Sašo Vollmaier

(HC): Helen Cole

(LC): Lorne Covington

(JM): James McAllister

(PRS): Preach R Sun

(JE): Jeannette Ehlers

(NB): Nathalie Anguezomo Mba Bikoro

The gift, or the awful burden of the artist is that they see details in the world and they see their implications and that is what they bring into the space; we all walked passed that old woman, we all walked past that box on the ground by that old woman, we all walked passed. But they can’t because of the dynamic of that person and how they relate to the very fact that people were walking past and they have to do something with it. But we were all there. I don’t think they can present anything different, they are just presenting rather than ignoring. (LSC)

The difference between manifesting and showing is getting to the heart. (JK)

And by mediating between ideas and people you are in a position where you can open a question, but I doubt we can provide an answer; I am not convinced that I have any solution to the problem. (ADR)

How do you think this can be misinterpreted? (ARP)

These topics are so fragile that anything is enough to cause misunderstanding. (K)

When something is taken out of context and put into an anonymous realm

it is everyone’s to play with and assume a context for. (LSC)

It is not that complex, in fact, it is very simple… (NF)

Disconnect the brain and connect the heart.

And it is that idea of being alive, and maybe it is as simple as that. (DQ)

There was a very strong need to express movement. It is there that I felt the most alive.

This feeling of where life is… (SW)

But the reality is that when I close the door I close myself. So this is what I need to learn, how to live this quality outside... (SV)

What is this quality?

It’s curiosity… This is what I am looking for, not just for others but also in my Self.

Believing in human creativity… all this aggression, all these suppressed feelings exist because we are creative creatures… so he welcomed aggression, to ask what’s behind this, what’s unread and to transfer this aggression into the voice, into movement, dance; to focus on each person’s expression as a creative source… and express this… this fragility… and suddenly all these colours… but you have to go through all those true personal states, you really have to go into your guts and feel this pain to find a true voice, something which is meaningful… (SW)

I was always connected to the voice through my family… more so with my father.

There were nine children in the family and I think singing was also a way to survive.

They would sing together to get emotionally stronger,

so this tradition I remember because they kept it, till now.

For me performance is almost like surviving. It is going to a deep process of… almost of death… and surviving this… many fears… (SV)

Sašo Vollmaier and Susanne Weins. Photograph © Lorenza Cini.

It is the cornerstone of art, because art for art’s sake is so tautologically irrelevant, it is very easy to produce, it is a comfort zone for many artists. I need some challenge and the challenge involves the other, it involves failure, in many ways, because in performance you are not supposed to have everything under control and do exactly as you thought you would, I don’t believe in that kind of practice. (ADR)

Knots were forming and I wasn’t able to disentangle them. I wasn’t able to make a homogeneous wig: it was full of knots. It was all a process of becoming and I wanted to let myself be transported by a continuous and unpredictable flow.

I found myself within the situation and I wasn’t trying to govern it,

I let my Self be moved, I surrendered.

When I am performing I am in a therapeutic level. I do try to transform something from its negative to its positive through actions towards the public.(NF) Even though we are not using performance art as therapy, we are not supposed to, we are not qualified to, it has some therapeutic aspects to it at some levels and I am aware that I am using it in my own personal life. You are using your body not only as a tool, but as a terrain, as a battlefield and addressing phobias is a good way to be aware of the body, because you become aware of its fragility. (ADR)

It dealt with an aspect of loss. (HC)

It is part of life… Tied to the gestural action, to the preciousness your feel of yourself, or a body, or a relationship, or an experience lived personally. Art needs to make you identify with what it wants to say, with the mind, with the spirit and heart. (NF)

How much more marvellous and essential, of synthesis, direct, a punch to the stomach, no filters. (JK)

It is just an ongoing investigation (ADR) of addressing things that our minds have problems with: it touches you at a visceral level, and that is a way of getting people to think about it. (DQ)

It is an open exercise in dealing with difficulties, especially when you are dealing with something that can be really difficult to perceive, it’s a good exercise for understanding other people’s perception, too.

Many times we forget about what the audience perceives or what they want to perceive, and sometimes it is interesting to work with things that are difficult to perceive for the audience, too, because there is always someone in the audience that can do that and others that can’t. Many of the things I address come from my daily experience, and how the understanding of one another can be faulty in many ways or incomplete, and I feel the need of addressing these issues, maybe just to provide some other perspective. And sometimes that change of perspective can be very useful for an audience, to see something that they haven’t seen before. Art is a communication tool really. It is a form that can create ways of communicating with each other, in unexpected ways, complex ways, lots of ways. If there is no communication I think performance art would be empty. Performance art creates a temporary situation in which people can be real but disconnected from reality, and that breaks some of the barriers people have. (ADR)

It’s about place. You are bringing everybody together in that place and giving to them a way to interact with one another in a way they never have before. Really creating a new kind of space. (LC)

It’s a different language. (JK)

So then you realise that it is a common language, which maybe has something to do with a collective common imaginary. (K)

I think it is the only language that enables you to express your Self with authenticity and without added filters. I had a necessity of extreme truth in terms of my own personal life, and through art I found the way to express my Self without suffering. The moment I live the creative experience I feel like I am living in the right dimension.

Everything recomposes in equilibrium, harmoniously. (K)

It can lead to failure, but failure isn’t failure if you think of it in terms of growth. (ADR)

James McAllister. Photograph © Edward Smith.

I wanted to work with people, to be in touch with people…

I studied human beings, and this was so interesting. Our task was to study, to see what the problems are… we had to learn how to see, to look at people, to learn what they could have.

I see the strength of people. I see the strength of the body… loosing blood while keeping concentration… how strong the body is... So then I wondered:

“What is the most fragile?”

And then I thought: “Yes... relations... society, how to cope for example with strains, with this energy…

This is the most fragile… relations... what we try to do really is to strengthen relationships.” (SW) And to rediscover ourselves socially, not in places of worship, socialising or business transactions, but a shared art making creates a safe space to discover each other potential— an inward turning of outward creative energies. (DQ)

It gives space to more direct relationships, as opposed to the daily mundanity, which is based a lot on the flattening of conversations, flattening of time, which always runs short anyway, so then here your are giving your Self, your time, you go back to a way of relating that is normal, before or beyond contemporaneity.

It gives space to be able to accept that which I went through with the energy that the public gives back. This freedom from negativity I find it to be an experiential exchange of love. (NF)

I wanted to use something that is personal and social at the same time, almost anyone has some sort of phobia.( ADR)

But the necessity doesn’t lie in needing to talk about one’s Self, but to express the message, which in us is entrusted. Revealing one’s Self, revealing one’s own fragility somehow gives you strength because not hiding your own discomfort which in any case you are constantly afraid of it being revealed, gives you awareness... And awareness is everything. (K)

When we release something, we lose this sense of judgment. (SV)

Seeing their emotion, the trembling of their voices… their breath even, under the gaze of the public. (K)

You are tackling immaterial fragile relationships… And because you need to engage the audience somewhat directly, fragility has to be seen… but what happens if you don’t see anything, if you just perceive something. For some people that perception can be interesting but for some people it does nothing, that too can happen. (ADR)

I don’t know how far it goes once it leaves the room… (LC)

OK so what’s for dinner? (DQ)

Douglas Quin and Lorne Covington. Photograph © Alexander Harbaugh.

I know that things that touched me deeply in my life I still remember and have coloured my perspective, so hopefully what happens when they leave the room, who knows, you touch them in some sort of way. (LC)

It is my strong belief that something very special can happen between people, where you have to be very present both as an audience and as an artist, and there is something about our world that kind of prevents you from doing that; a lot of the time we build up resistance to that and I think performance is one of those strategies we can employ to break down the border, to

Feel. Again. Together. (HC)

In Ecce (H)omo (by Kyrahm) there is a woman in the second room.

She is listening to her partner’s tapes:

Love messages.

She was with her for 23 year.

You are there with her, your back to the wall, facing this woman’s profound love.

So I am showing you this sentiment, and this can be far more effective than a debate on the meaning of love (and the violation of human rights when societal structures neglect this on the basis of categorisations.) (ARP) Therefore, at a certain point art and activism meet and it is this, being able to use effective ways and enable the public to reach the same conclusions, vehicled by a different language, that of the heart that enabled this connection, between everyone. (K)

It is based on the simple biology of osmosis, you have a concentration of saline solution and a membrane and a concentration of lower saline solution, and what happens is the salt passes through the membrane, it is what happens in our cells, the salt passes through the membrane until the concentration of salinity are equal, that is what I think is I’m trying to look at.

I aspire to creating some sort mechanism where the flow of information in between the artist and the witness is kind of equal, where there is as much coming one way as there is the other, so what I tried to make was a series of apertures through which things would flow in both directions, in a more or less restricted way. (JM)

An encounter between people. (K)

You have this range of intensity of what you can exchange, so the value of that transaction really depends on how much you are willing to put into it. (ARP)

The creation of a link between my Self and the other,

how am I reflected in the other and how they are reflected in me. (ADR)

Sometimes, situations confront you with yourself, in whichever way and then you realise that you have a lot to work on… and the connecting link here is this recognised belief that everything is so fragile, and that we are not perfect, and that we need to connect, and we need to share, and we need to understand one another. (ARP)

Confrontation requires a great effort. (K)

some people were eager to discuss this

some people didn’t want to address it at all

and some people even rejected it. (ADR)

No matter what you feel, the very fact that you won’t understand it, that you want to reject it...

It is already too late because I planted a seed in you. (PRS)

Leisa Shelton-Campbell and Marilyn Arsem. Photograph © Claudia Popovici.

Art is a peaceful rebellion. (NF)

A form of resistance.

There are various forms of resistance. (JK)

There is no attention to the individual, which could be a universe of its own, categorical to nothing. I could even choose to be a completely transparent being, indefinable, that daily morphs its own gender, its own identity, this too can exist...

Yet convictions of what society expects from you, that perform a function, can at some point become very strong shackles of social control and to live the experience of deconstructing and re-inventing who you are (K) has to do with self-determination: I define myself based on what I feel, not based on what is imposed on me.

And the political act is that to show one’s Self for who you are, and the language of performance art is that of the body, which in any case is true to itself. A person is born with a body, like we all do and this body is ‘described’ based on notions of gender. Human society has prerequisites, it has rules; that everything should return to a gender binary. (JK) There is no acknowledgment of the various infinite shades of identity. (K) Society still expects a boy or a girl. (JK)

A society still highly patriarchal, catholically conditioned and controlled, and it shows through these issues. (K)

It has to do with the amount of differences that each individual is being exposed to – culturally, mentally, religiously spiritually; suddenly everything enters your sphere of how the other lives and it can be threatening because we are so basic, we are so simple and we need comfort, we need stability and the moment it is disrupted you instil this sense of fear; it takes a lot of self-deconstruction to be able to realise what is the faulty key in the system, in relationships, in society, but in order to do that you have to present a model or to inspire a means of communication that is uncharted, and to see it objectively

and that is really difficult because you are also part of it. (ADR)

Artivism if you may. (K)

Activism has a lot to do with reclaiming.

A neglected right that I reclaim, so most often there is a contraposition where these situations create conflicts and internal ones, too, because what I see in the world, my partner sees differently, and so you create a conflict based on differences.

The dynamic of the message is something else, and the main difference here is that in art there is no counterattack. There is feeling, there is enabling a condition to be felt, and that may just as well bring people closer, despite their clashing ideologies. Activism is frequently tied to the contrast in ideologies; in art ideologies don’t reign, there is the human experience, there is life, there is death, there is sickness, there is joy, there is love, there is suffering.

But this suffering, I try to share... there is sharing, yes, so it is a different approach that tends to shorten gaps, or perhaps even widen them, at an emotive level, because effectively I can distance myself from a strong emotion, but it is a peaceful reaction. (JK)

So rather than just talking about statistics or climate change as a political problem or an issue, I think it is important to appeal to people’s senses and emotions rather than just their intellect, so people can hear and not just be overwhelmed by data of how quickly the ice is melting or what have you…

So, what does it sound like?... (DQ)

Is that a voice? Is that the wind? (LC)

How do we relate?

We relate to one another through sight, through sound, through touch…

Alexander Del Re. Photograph © Edward Smith.

So I think the sensory engagement is a very important part of the message rather than just a data dump where people can feel overwhelmed and a bit helpless.

It becomes art as a social interaction.

The ultimate goal for us, is self-awareness but also awareness of what’s out there. (DQ)

So with all this raising of awareness, the need to communicate these ideas (because art in a way is just another tool for communication) everyone is craving answers, everyone is craving solutions, so what should an audience go home with? (ADR)

That human voices are part of a fabric of many voices. (DQ)

As an artist you can provide possibilities, ideas, or questions that can be tackled differently, and I you can rethink possibilities but I don’t think there is a solution that I can provide. (ADR)

Part of the contract of the piece is how you relate to each other and not just to the work. People then become aware of their own behaviour, and aware of other people, and that is the key for us. That you become more self-aware but also more aware of other people.

That it’s not just me, I, we, it’s us.

That dynamic is really beautiful, and people get it when they start paying attention. (DQ)

That difference of active engagement. So this is about layers of responsibility, of people’s desire to engage to take time, to go in and say “oh yep, got it” or to chose to go in and have a relationship and bid your time and to make the transaction, which some people really did, and when you see it all there, you get this really clear representation of humans.

Here we all are, here it all is. The levels with which we transact our relationships.

And that is very telling. (LSC)

An ongoing investigation of human relations. (ADR)

And now when I see people talking about progress, in my personal experience we have not progressed at all. So for me the issue of race in America is something that I experience first hand, so when I hear people philosophise or talk about these issues from this hypothetical or statistical point of view, and not understanding the experience and how it plays out, it sometimes infuriates me.

If we can postulate that human beings are free by nature, but that freedom requires a moral and intellectual responsibility, and if we live in a society where so many of us are struggling and starving while so few have so much, then what I do know is that this society is not free. So if someone says that we are scared of freedom, it means we are scared to fighting against something, because if we reach humanity that means that people won’t be in prisons, people won’t be starving, we’d be taking care of each other. I don’t know what freedom is, but I think that is what it would look like, maybe it is utopian. I think we are in a pre-revolutionary phase now, and unfortunately that’s where a lot of people don’t like me because I describe myself as an anarchist and an active nihilist. I believe that you have to burn down in order to rebuild. First and foremost, we have to organise.

I think the poor have to organise, the black have to organise around the globe, and I think everyone else will organise around, and that is why I use blackness as a political means to activate revolution. But I don’t think we would want to do that because we are constricted or tied down or bound by need, so we need things to look like this, we need our cars, we need our nice clothes, we need our bars, we need to sit in big comfort, so that is why I think the brilliance of capitalism and globalisation is that it has us conditioned, and that is how we remain slaves, so it might seem impossible, and it is impossible if we think it is impossible. We are scared of being failures, it is this conditioning, fear of being ostracised. “What do you mean you don’t have this or that?” So I think it is that condition where in essence we are perpetuating our own slavery. (PRS)

Even failure is a good thing to experience, but of course it is difficult to embrace failure, you are not supposed to, that is the problem. (ADR)

What is not freedom –

That we live like this is not freedom. We have to crush the blocks, all of them, and I think they reflect issues of sexuality, race, religion, culture, we have to question everything; all these things that we don’t want to question, all these institutions, they have to be challenged, so how far do we want to go? I am hopeful about younger generations, but at the same time

I don’t think they will be as radical; it is difficult for white children to free themselves from privilege. It’s always our responsibility to be vigilant and to stand up against the powers. And I think that to co-opt and to be a part of the system, takes over at a certain point because it is called responsibility, it is called adulthood, there are many ways to try to get the youth to change their minds. So I think it is always a thing that when people are young they are radical, they are standing for the date, they believe in freedom, they believe in these things and it is not fair to blame them, it happens with every generation. It is hard to break free.

It is hard for anybody to standalone.

And hear people talk about you and call you crazy.

I think generally humans want to love each other, or they try, but I think there is a flaw in humanity. (PRS)

And art is a tool, a social weapon. (NF)

I have encountered racism many times. Maybe more subtly, but still I experience racism every day, since the structure of our society is racist. It might not be personal to me, but still the whole structure of the society influences me as well. The stronger you are in your own history, the stronger you will seem. They listen to you because they see that there is a connection, they might not understand that but they see that something is there. I don’t expect people to do it overnight, it takes time, I’m still trying to decolonize myself, I’m not there at all and it is an ongoing thing because it is so rooted in our structures, deep into ourselves, it takes a long time, I wonder if it will be in my lifetime… and that is what I’m trying to do,

I hope that it can have an impact, that it can help people see alternatives and to move on in different directions. I am also educating myself all the time; so it is a long journey, not tiring at all, but there is a lot of work to do, for myself but also for the community as well, for the nation. (JE)

What does it mean to decolonise? (ARP)

It’s a matter of choices, its a matter of possibilities, it is a long-term work, you can’t really do it like this, I don’t know what the future will look like but I just hope that my work and what we are all doing here, is capable of changing the mindset of people, so we can have a future with more equality. It doesn’t have to be this way, the society is a structure, it is a European structure, the way it looks now. There are so many other pre-Columbian societies that looked different, not that I want us to go back to being in the jungle, but the mindset and the perception of the world could be very different, and still we could evolve and move forward in new ways. So that is what I’m trying to do, that my work will at least inspire people to think outside the box. And now we are having so much gender talk, and we are trying to give voice to so many different perceptions of what it is to be a human being.

Life is so full of nuances,

and why don’t we allow them to be there, why don’t we allow all these voices to be heard, but that is the structure that we live in, and that is the colonial structure, that it has to be one way, but the colonial structure that is in power of the world is just a structure, it could be different, it could be another structure. (JE)

It has to do with our education and the history taught across the spectrum globally is or has been authoritarian in some way. The artist’s voice is a way to deconstruct that, to say that there are histories out there and they should be prominent too. It doesn’t mean that if it is written in a history book that it is OK, because it has been published, because, the first thing that people say is “I didn’t hear that, where did you find that information, I didn’t read that.” So then that makes my story not a part of history. The thing is, you have to go on with this conversation. People throw it at you like a spit in the face, “OK I have you now and I am going to make you converse with me, I am going to make you learn how to talk…” Because a lot of people are afraid of their own memory. I see this in Germany, in Berlin, there hasn’t been this exercise of memory, they had to deal with so much since WWII, and so only specific things have been put there... Because it is too much, so there hasn’t been this exercise of memory. It should not be about victimisation, it should be about empowering all communities and being aware of it.

So the first thing that happens is that there is rejection…

Three months later the same person calls me and says,

I’ve been thinking about it…

I see it this way now.

That is history right there, I don’t need to publish it in a book. That is my reality, your reality, our reality, and that is real. I don’t need Sarkozy to tell me that Africa hasn’t entered history yet. You know? Come on… So it is very necessary.

So first I’m telling you the story you know, I’m only speaking in words, but the performance, that says everything because it transcends all of it. I don’t even need to speak, and you understand it and it’s you. It’s not about me huh. It’s about you, you are decolonizing your own body your own mind, your own history and this takes a lifetime… It is not just nine months, it is your whole life. (NB)

I’ve been thinking about this question for many years, especially when I am addressing these very sensitive and important issues, which are really relevant in some contexts. So I started to rethink some of the projects that I had based on that, also given the feedback that arose from the interactions which was so relevant that it changed the whole project. So I decided to use it as a tool, because I didn’t want to impose some idea, criteria or vision onto another human being without incorporating the feedback of other people’s point of view. (ADR) My responsibility is to keep doing what I do, and keep revealing and manifesting this cultural narrative and to educate myself so that I can be here and be here the way that I want to be, but I think it is everybody’s responsibility to educate themselves, to know where we are coming from, and to open up and get out of this colonial narrative and structure. Especially for white people it is really necessary to let go of this narrative and listen to those other voices, because there is so much to learn. Because most of the time this whole history is seen as a burden of the black people and not of whites, but it is actually a burden of the whites, too. It is so necessary for whites to let go of this structure. (JE)

I believe that responsibility never ends. Because you are an artist, you are a person, a citizen, you are fundamentally a human being, and so it is an ethical matter, and ethic doesn’t have an off switch, it is something that I carry with me constantly. It is a constant questioning of whether you are behaving in an ethical way, and of course we are humans, so we make mistakes, we even do things which we are ashamed of, otherwise the world would be a different world. And I think that paying attention, if we are able to do so, if you are able to live with the same intensity you live a performance or a theatrical act, even the most mundane aspects of human life when it comes to relationships and respect, you will have a richer life, a beauty not of aesthetics but a beauty of fulfilment that can give meaning to your life. (JK)

The responsibility of the individual is to rebel, no matter what.

What happens in a slave society, is that people don’t understand the power of the individual voice and the responsibility of this individual voice. Under these oppressed positions the way it is designed is that we are dependent upon the very system that is suppressing us, and this is why I compare racial slavery to capitalism. What they replaced with slavery (via capitalism) is something far more nefarious and far more oppressive, which is need. So we feel like we need this situation, because we have this idea of capitalism, we fetishise the Dollar, or the Euro or whatever, so our relationship to money is that we need money to live and that’s not the case. Money is a piece of paper, so our lives are invested in pieces of paper that we feel conditioned to strive for, when in fact if everyone said “Fuck this, this piece of paper doesn’t mean anything” then the system would fall, it would stop; but we fetishise, and we are taught that. So I think that the individual’s job is to see through and to sacrifice themselves, and I think that we don’t understand is that no matter how many of us want to just live our lives and be safe and secure, in order to get free you have to sacrifice, you have to be willing to die for it, because no one is going to give it to you, because the thing that we don’t understand in this capitalistic situation is that it is spreading throughout the world and it is predatory. It is designed to just crush the poor. That’s not democracy, that’s not freedom by any stretch of the imagination. So we are free no more than free-range chickens; you place animals on the farm and you just let them roam, but you are waiting to fatten them up for the slaughter house, like cows. You just put grass there and they won’t leave, you don’t even need to put fences up – and that is where we are, circumscribed by need. This is what we have to break out of, this idea that we need this way of life. Because what we don’t seem to understand is that, in fact, it’s this reality that is actually poisoning us all.

So what you are starting to see now is that there are these pockets or groups of indigenous people in different areas and I feel they all have power, and share equal responsibility (as human beings) in this struggle. For example, Native Americans are fighting to protect the land. We all have a responsibility to stand and fight with them. The strength and struggle of black people (black people have always been known around the globe as the sufferers of racial and systematic oppression) is to stand and fight to abolish the oppressive system of white supremacy – I’m specifically speaking to the construct of race and the economic institution of capitalism, and I feel that if the rest of the world identified with the black struggle then we could all come together, but so often people think that the black struggle is anti-whiteness, as opposed to looking at it like: if poor people oppressed everywhere saw what was happening to black people is inevitably happening to all of us, then you could connect. So I use blackness as a means to liberate.

Yes, first and foremost my goal is to try and liberate my own people, to wake up my people, but at the same time if black people in general are the key to everyone’s liberation, people see it, because we were the ones that were on the first row of oppression, so we saw it. So if you see that and you align with that then we start building, once you build though – and that is the thing that we don’t understand is that inevitably the enemy is going to reveal itself to you, and they are not going to give it up without a fight – but if we build together we outnumber them. But we are too scared of seeing that; if we build together the rich, the powerful, the status quo, they cannot withstand such an onslaught. But we will have to be willing to die, so I think the only way that this is going to end unfortunately is in revolution. You are talking about nations that hold power through war, so they are not going to give it up, but I think that as long as people stay afraid and say, well we have to honour the civil society, then we are always going to be enslaved. And the richer slaves too, and that’s what they don’t understand, because this is not the nature of our humanity. Our nature as human beings is freedom. We are the manifestation of freedom, so if we are not living free we are all slaves. But the rich don’t care about being slaves, they don’t care about the environment, they don’t care about women’s rights, they don’t care about equal rights for everybody. They care about their rights, and so they will do anything to hold on to that. So the responsibility of the individual is to rebel, so in my work I’m always calling up “Wake up slaves, why don’t you rebel!”

That’s what I think the responsibility of the artist is, to use that power to change the perspectives of people – even if it is difficult and also “to reflect the society.” As an artist, you can’t just go around entertaining. You have this gift, you have this power, you have this voice, so it is your responsibility to stand. And I think that artists right now in the world are the last that can stand, that can say something and change things, but I don’t think it is going to happen as long as art is cloistered away in galleries… (for consumerism), so it’s a reflection of the very society that we are living in, because the artist is so enslaved by the idea of capitalisms. The saddest thing I’ve ever seen is when I look at art in galleries cause it reminds me of animals in zoos, cause the power is taken out of it. It is like the bear over the hearth, the hunter kills the beast and the head is its trophy, so I think art kind of lives in that situation where the artists are thirsty and feel like “Oh I have to work, I have to eat and my value, my validation relies in the capitalist who buys.” So we are traded, we are commodified and our works are as objects. So I don’t think that is radical, the responsibility of the artist is to take it to the street, is to find new ways to disrupt this, to find new ways of revolutionise the society around them, and yes that can be taken the wrong way, it's like saying “What good is it to reason with slaves about freedom,” and when you talk about the phenomenology of reason – we have the gift but we are not reasoning, we are not living free, and we are okay being slaves; that's not freedom.

And some people think that doing something in the streets isn't going to change anything; there are many layers to revolutionary struggle and we have to connect the dots. The artist has a role in social change and activism but unfortunately many artists think of themselves as “I'm an artist and not an activist.”

And that’s a problem, that we aren't dealing with politics. I don't even care about being accepted in the performance art community, that's just accidental. I don't even like the term art, so I feel that the artist's responsibility is to wake up and to radicalise society, and you have to radicalise and revolutionise the minds first so the society around us has to be awake. If you’re not awake and if you're not pushing them to be awake, then they are not going to do anything. So I think the artist can do that, but then we have to be able to connect everybody. We have the responsibility of the farmer, the teacher, of the educator, everyone has a role but we have to see that and connect in order to build something of “whatever your passion is it should be the tool for your liberation.” (PRS)

And journeying through life based on a desire you had during childhood is a process of liberation. (K)

And it is easy for the white person to say it is universal.

So if I’m black, and I’m talking about these issues, but you are stuck on my blackness, my black perspective, does that not make it universal, or does it mean that you just don’t have the ability to allow yourself to go through the blackness to see your Self, this affects me too…

I can only free me and that is responsibility of the individual, I cannot free you. But what I can do is set an example and spark something in you where you say: “You know what, I’m going to free myself, too.” Then we can work together, but I can’t free everybody, I can’t do that, because many people will be like: “Yeah, I want to get free, too” but it’s easier for people to stay in a group, but people standing in a group sometimes do it for different reasons, because its fashionable, its cool… And they essentially become co-opted because what a lot of these people are looking for, is acceptance and validation through what they claim they are trying to fight against. So the responsibility is to go on a journey and to find what is liberation, what is freedom, so they have to find it for themselves, and they have to try to fight to get there. And ultimately I feel that people are not going to go that far.

Radical is dealing with the root, eradicating the root. (PRS)

I think one of the good tests you can have as an artist is the perception of the audience, because the audience can sense what is real, what is truth and not in a very instinctive way, and I think the audience is the best way to measure that because as humans we can sense this directly. (ADR)

It is easy to absorb a small amount and walk on and look at the next thing, particularly at an exhibition, but I think, generally, an audience member actually wants more than that. They want a really substantial…. really they want is a transformative experience that they very rarely get, so they don’t expect it. (JM)

It’s like with any artistic experience, you have to be open; if you come with pre-judgment then you will leave with nothing. But if you come in with an open heart then you can have a great experience, regardless of who you are.

It’s about being present and paying attention. It is so undervalued, and that is all you can ask really:

A moment of presence.

We’ve been very interested in the idea of being present and of having agency; being aware that you are changing things. On a simple level it is just being aware of your place in the world. And from the artistic context here, just being aware that you are changing things, as we are always changing things. (DQ)

You are moving in the world and the world is responding to you. (LC)

And if you close your eyes and listen, it is a completely different experience. (ARP)

In this very moment of human history you need something else, you need to create questions rather than saying: “This is the solution, don’t worry, don’t confront.” I don’t want the piss the audience off but I want to create something with the audience that can be disturbing or complex or whatever, but the audience has to resolve some situation, or else it means nothing. It is very easy to see some traditional performances where the body is doing some actions, and the actions are created well, beautifully, and that is it. Then you’ve had a beautiful experience, not to say that it is not needed, you need that too, it is part of life, but it is not the only thing you need. (ADR) That is the sort of transformation of art in our times, it serves as a social conversation for a way of being in the world. (DQ)

The privilege of being an artist is of having this vocation and being able to reach people with this. (NF)

So how do you use your privilege, how do you check your privilege, how do you really challenge yourself?

Really put your privilege where your mouth is.

If you care, really do the work,

by being very open and honest with yourself,

really take the time to look at what is around you (PRS)

to encourage… the most beautiful part here:

how people are adapting, the way people are looking, with curiosity, with respect, with so much humanity. This is the most beautiful aspect of the whole VENICE INTERNATIONAL PERFORMANCE ART WEEK.

It is a little social island of where relationships can strengthen… (SW)

And so what it is enabling are these layers of people becoming better people. (LSC)

There is a lot of cooperation between all involved, no matter their social role within the project and that is a model that is so inspiring… If you can just take a fragment of the message and transpose that into daily life, I think the purpose has been fulfilled. It’s not about the works that are being shown, but about the understanding that is elicited in the viewers… (ARP) There are trapped doors into alternative worlds, in the end it’s about these incredible bodies, rubbing up against each other, and what meanings we make together, and I think artistic work of all kinds creates the opportunities for that, which means that I’m on the lookout for these special encounters because I believe they do come between us all the time… (HC)

Breath, life, the meaning of breath, losing the breath, fragile body,

Breath is really the one thing that makes us the most

Fragile and it is the first to the last thing we’ll ever do as humans.

And when that last breath comes (JM)

It is an exhalation (LSC)

My job is

To plant seeds (PRS)

#interview #aisha ryannon pagnes #preach r sun #susanne weins #kyrahm #leisa shelton #james mcallister #julius kaiser #alexander del re #nicola fornoni #douglas quin #saso vollmaier #helen cole #lorne covington #jeannette ehlers #nathalie bikoro

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