Corine - PERFORMANCE ART ACTIVISM POST

 Quote 1:

“As a young activist … I used the classical enlightenment model. If people just had the right facts, if people just had access to the truth, they would see the world as it actually was, and of course join our side.”

My Response:
This part really stood out to me because it’s true, we always think if people just knew the facts, they’d automatically agree with us. But it doesn’t work like that. People don’t change just because you tell them something. They need a reason to care, or something that actually connects to their feelings and how they see the world. It made me realize activism isn’t just giving information, it’s about changing how people think and feel.

Quote 2:

“Art can envision a future that is not here in the present. It can give us an idea, an experience, of what a different world might look like and might feel like.”

My Response:
I like this quote because it explains why art is powerful in activism. It’s not just about showing what’s wrong, it’s about letting people imagine something better. Sometimes people can’t picture change until they’re shown it. Art makes that possible. It makes you feel the idea, not just think it. That’s what actually motivates people to move and do something.

(I wasn’t in class for this, so I didn’t get to do the small instruction pieces with everyone. But based on the readings and videos, I created my own performance piece using the same ideas.)

Two Quotes from Chapter 5 (Cognition)

1. “If people just had the right facts… they would see the world as it actually was.”
   This made me think about how people don’t change just by being told things. You have to make them feel it or experience it.

2. “Art can envision a future that is not here in the present.”
   This reminded me that art lets us imagine better possibilities. Sometimes people need to see or feel a different world before they believe it can exist.

   Performance Art Piece: “Unspoken Thoughts”

   Message:

   This piece is about the constant thoughts running in my head  the ones I don’t say out loud, the ones I repeat, and the ones I fight with. It connects to cognition because it shows how my inner thoughts shape the way I move, act, and feel, even when nobody else sees it.

   Setting

   A small, quiet space, an empty classroom, a hallway corner, a room in the arts building, or even outdoors against a blank wall.
   I only need:

   - A roll of masking tape

   - Paper

   - A marker

   - Myself

   Description

   I sit on the floor with the masking tape in front of me. Slowly and carefully, I start tearing pieces of tape and sticking them around my body on the ground in a circle. It looks like I am creating a “mental boundary” or a “thought cage.”

   Inside the circle, I write different thoughts on strips of paper. Not long sentences — just short thoughts like:

   - “I’m tired.”

   - “I’m trying.”

   - “I should be doing more.”

   - “Why do I think like this?”

   - “I want peace.”

   - “Keep going.”

   I place each paper strip inside the circle one by one.
   Every time I place one down, I pause and breathe. The pauses become part of the performance — they show the weight of thinking. Once all the thoughts are laid out, I sit in the middle of them, silent, for about one minute.Then I do something simple but symbolic:

   I tear open the circle of tape with my hands and step out of it.

   I leave the papers and tape behind on the floor as the final “installation.”

   Instructions

   1. I sit on the floor with tape and blank paper.

   2. I tear pieces of tape and place them in a circle around me.

   3. I write short thoughts on paper strips.

   4. I lay each thought inside the tape circle.

   5. I pause for a few seconds after each one.

   6. I sit still in the middle of the circle for 1 minute.

   7. I tear open the tape circle.

   8. I step out slowly and leave everything on the ground.

   Ending:

   “Not every thought belongs to me.”