Joshua McVeigh-Schultz /DANM210 /responses To Questions

Josh

Note: These questions were developed when my project was in a more amorphous stage, but they are still quite relevant (with a little tweaking).

1. Is your project defined by space or roles people portray in a specific space and why?

2. Do you think the disclaimer given at the beginning of the conversation will effect the content? If so, will/how will you address this?

3. How would you present this piece?

I don't have a lot of experience with video installation (although I've been around people who are much more involved in it than I am). That said, I've recently become really interested in the possibility of setting up a digital confessional booth where people can call their senators and representatives in order to confess their intimate secrets. This idea is partly inspired by Joey Skaggs's portable confessional. I'm less interested in the object of the confessional per se than in the possibility of somehow motivating spectators to make calls to their political representatives in a museum setting. The object (if it is recognizable as a confessional booth in some way) would seem to license a mode of play that people might otherwise feel uncomfortable with. Creating this kind of amplified-phone-booth installation would also solve my objective of wanting to bring vulnerability to the exhibition space itself. Another, idea that came out of discussions with Roopesh was to employ a masseur to offer people massages while they make calls (this might be possible for an opening night event). Again, I'm interested in creating a very comfortable, intimate space in order to contrast with the more public (and intimidating) gesture of calling a politician's office.

4. How will you direct the content in a way that deals with political policy?

My new project proposal emerged as an answer to this question specifically.

5. What are your specific expectations of this work?

I'd like the installation to be a catalyst for people to visit a website with more examples of these performances. Ideally, I'd like visitors to this website to start contributing their own examples. I'm interested in creating new genres of participatory interaction, but I also understand that truly successful participatory movements emerge organically, often around a particular persona or performance venue. For example, Zefrank's community emerged as a participatory space only after interest developed around his persona as a comedian and performance artist. Right now, I think the most effective way to galvanize a community is by providing a politically relevant performance venue that will motivate people to produce their own work online.