Corine - PERFORMANCE INTERVENTION

Link To Slides

What is your project?

My project is a shadow-based phenakistoscope animation built from silhouettes of real people performing movements inspired by emotionally charged words: Strength, Healing, Community, Struggle, Stressed, and Resilience. I asked several friends to respond to two of these words each by creating a physical movement that expressed how that word made them feel in their bodies. I then recorded their gestures as shadows using a projected light against a blank dorm wall. The shadows were photographed, printed, cut out, and arranged into frames on a phenakistoscope disc to create a looping animation of collective emotional expression.

Why did I choose this topic and this form of outreach?

I chose this topic because physical expression often communicates feelings more honestly than words alone. Many of the themes, struggle, healing, strength,connect directly to the cycles of hardship and resilience discussed in class through our readings. Using shadows felt meaningful because shadows carry metaphor: they show what is present yet unseen, and they turn private emotions into visible forms.
The phenakistoscope format connected to the course theme of performance and intervention because it transforms one-time gestures into repeating cycles, mirroring how emotional experiences repeat through communities.

What is my message for the audience?

My message is that struggle and resilience are shared experiences, and when we translate our emotional responses into movement, we create community through empathy. The spinning of the phenakistoscope symbolizes how these experiences repeat but also evolve when shared with others.

How did I reach an audience? How did they engage? What feedback did I receive?

My intervention took place in my dorm community. I approached friends and asked:
“What movement does your body naturally make when you think about the word ___?”
This approach itself was the intervention, interruption, participation, reflection, and embodiment. Participants engaged physically by performing gestures, emotionally by thinking about the prompt words, and collaboratively by allowing their movements to become part of a final collective artwork.

How does this project fit into my professional aspirations and portfolio?

As a 2D animator and illustrator, this project strengthens my portfolio by showing:

• Creative storytelling through nontraditional mediums

• Use of the body as an artistic tool

• Integration of community participation

Artists who influenced this project:

1. Kara Walker – Her silhouette installations use shadow and shape to tell complex stories about identity, memory, and trauma. Her work inspired me to use silhouettes to communicate emotion without facial features or text.

Research / Resources:

1. Articles/interviews on Kara Walker’s silhouette installations and how she uses shadow to speak on trauma and history.

2. Research on phenakistoscopes and early animation devices (history and mechanics).

3. Scholarship on embodied practice in performance art how movement expresses emotional and social realities.

4. Readings from class on intervention art and audience participation.

5. Psychological articles on gesture and emotion, exploring how the body reacts to certain emotional stimuli.