Georgina Da Silva Buddy Feedback
Your aims are clear and well conveyed in your work in progress showing. The hospital robe immediately made me register that this was a piece commenting on illness, and the one to one aspect helped produce and question intimacy. Consider what type of intimacy you are seeking to question or produce. Is it a sexual intimacy or the intimacy of comfort and company that someone may seek when they are ill? I think there is weight in both explorations, but determining this may help you establish a tone for the piece.
The singing was an appropriate way of exploring intimacy especially in your one to one set up. It created awkwardness and from this humour was produced. I think you should expand on this notion of awkwardness, as his connects to how many feel awkward around the ‘sick body’. What ways could you make the atmosphere even more awkward for your audience? Perhaps through song choice. Consider and experiment with singing different material as this may change the overall effect and atmosphere. I wonder if you could pick multiple volunteers and have a list of songs to sing. This would make your volunteer feel uneasy as they wouldn’t be aware of the logic that determines your song choice. Consider how awkwardness may grow when the ‘sick body’ is sexualised, perhaps this could be through your song choice or costume. We see the hospital robe as something distant from sexual desire, but what would happen if you juxtaposed this costume with your actions to create an ‘intimate sick body’.
There was something compelling about the video but I struggled to situate it within the broader piece. Think about what the video adds and what you’re trying to show to your audience in these clips. Is it another way of showing intimacy? If so, try filming yourself in your private intimate moments or in day to day life where others may not see you. This may contribute to the awkward atmosphere as these clips could grow in intimacy over a period of time. Could you also juxtapose these clips with your singing material? For example, what happens if you are singing upbeat lyrics to a volunteer whilst the clip of you crying played? I think this would make the video moments more complex and feel more like an integral element.
I think the one to one moments work to produce intimacy within the piece but I don’t think the whole piece needs to be one to one, as there is something emotional and captivating about watching these intimate one to one sections. This may change if you consider the song choice in these encounters as the tone and atmosphere created will change.
The use of water links to your condition and is an effective material. I saw the water as something necessary for survival and so it is interesting to consider it as something detrimental to your health and the cause of the ‘sick body’. The blue colourant made me think of ink which I don’t think was the intention. Be specific with your materials and don’t be afraid if they are not immediately clear to your audience. Do you need something to stand in for water or can you strip back and simply have water as water.