‘Keep people safe’
Designing a participatory performance within the strict parameters of social distancing in Australia
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21873405 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Cherine Fahd (0000-0002-3404-1535, University of Technology Sydney, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 10 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 83-101 |
| Publication date | 2022-12-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Scene (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2044-3714 • E-ISSN: 2044-3722 |
| Publisher | Intellect (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1386/scene_00045_1 |
| OpenAlex | W4323340867 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 4 |
This article recounts designing and performing an intimate encounter with strangers during the pandemic. At the end of 2020, as Australians emerged from a long period of ‘lockdown’, the celebrated Sydney Opera House again opened its doors to the public. Commissioned to create a new work for the Sydney Opera House’s Antidote Festival, I designed a ‘touch’ performance that met the Australian Government’s COVID-19 protocols for social distancing at indoor events. Instead of being frustrated by the restrictions, I used the health and safety rules as if they were conceptual instructions. Surprisingly, I was reminded of the 1960s and 1970s conceptual artists whose experimental capacity was borne from instructive limitations. Seeing the restrictions as an opportunity, I discuss how the physical limitations ushered in by COVID-19 (along with the heritage status of the Sydney Opera House) provided the parameters for conceiving a scene and an experience that was everything the pandemic denied – public, participatory, intimate and physical. I also reflect on what I learned in the process and how needing to keep people safe brought profound ethical understanding
Aesthetics · Art · Citizen journalism · Conceptual framework · Dignity · Distancing · Doors · Media studies · Political science · Public relations · Relocation · Social distance · Social science · Sociology · Computer Science · Engineering · Law · Medicine · Participatory Visual Research Methods
| Citations per year | 0.25 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2022 - 2022 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |