That’s it. It’s over. The Site Specific performance has been completed and it simply remains to thoroughly analyse it and its effectiveness as a performance and any changes that I personally would implement should its performance be required again. I felt one key feature on the performance day that we had not previously experienced was the quantity of visitors (having only rehearsed on the much quieter weekdays) and the observation of audience reaction gave a fascinating insight into our pieces effect on the general public. Interestingly it was children who were most engaged with several aspects of the performance, particularly the part I consider to be the most visually striking: the human clock projected on the closed door. One little boy in particular seemed fascinated, excitedly chiming “look Daddy, the clocks them!” That such a simple visual tool could bring excitement to those of all ages I think validated its use in the performance. The other projection, that of a pineapple decomposing before coming back to life, is perhaps up for more scrutiny. On a personal level, I believe it was a powerful display of how time is not only something which dictates the working lives of human, but its power as a natural force which will ultimately claim everything. The use of the pineapple I felt to be a nice homage to the pineapple bowl in the display case and the juxtaposition between the two (one preserved to highlight the function of the pineapple bowl as likely to decay as the china it is displayed alongside, the other ravaged by time to show its true short lived nature) helped to highlight our ideas about time being both natural and a human construct. However, it could also be argued that this is hard to see for one who has not been involved in the pieces meticulous planning but is rather just a casual observer. Also we must consider the location of its projection, with it having been projected onto the wall underneath a display case instead of the clearly superior door where the human clock went. This was due to technical issues as opposed to artistic preferences and in this respect; the limits of the space did impact on the performance. Sadly, I cannot see how this could be rectified, but I believe the pineapple still has a place in the performance, particularly as it is the only side which explores times effects on the non-human factors, if anything this side could and perhaps should have been explored more.
I feel that the pieces durational nature influenced the audience and their reactions to it. Due its length, nobody stayed to observe for the whole running time, but many came back several times throughout the day, showing we had captured their imagination and provoked thought. Again it was parents and children who seemed most drawn to us and I see this as proof of the piece working on multiple levels. For the children, it was visually striking, with six adults acting in a manner that they would not normally see, dressed (or in Shanes case undressed) in a variety of ways and with the two constant projections on, there was enough to strike up an immediate curiousity after a casual glance. They may also have emphasised with some of the activities that we carried out, the putting together of a jigsaw puzzle and the mimed actions will be features of their own lives that may have pleased them to see done by adults. The parents too seemed intrigued, perhaps empathising more with the portrayal of the tedious, almost mechanical repetition of the working day and the pointlessness of the task we had assigned ourselves for that part of the performance (when the clock puzzle was successfully constructed, we simply dismantled it and started again).
Of course, not all audience reaction could be deemed as positive, but this was something we had prepared for. Due to the relatively enclosed nature of the space we were working in, contact with visitors was going to be inevitable. From the earliest rehearsals, we had encountered members of the public who viewed our activities as a hindrance to their viewing of the exhibits with one gentleman being almost openly hostile muttering for us to “get out my bloody way”. On the day we fortunately didn’t experience anything quite like this, but it is fair to say we did not reach every visitor to the gallery that day. Some were undoubtedly surprised to see the room inhabited. Others were questioning the relevance of the piece, with one woman springing to mind who asked her husband “Is this even worth looking at?” I found reactions such as particularly intriguing, it was the manner in which people spoke in clearly audible tones about the piece, almost disregarding us as individuals and viewing us as an exhibit ourselves, albeit one they may not have cared for. I find it interesting that the comment I found memorable was a question rather than a criticism. Were we even worth looking at? This in my opinion can be viewed as a sign of the pieces success, that we provoked questioning, even though it was sometimes negative, shows that we actually caused audience members to think and have an opinion. All art should, if it is successful, do this. Even if it is hated or reviled, indeed I personally believe that should it fail to encourage thought or an opinion, it has failed in its purpose as a piece of art, a fate that we seemed to avoid.
Practically, the piece was not without its hitches, the most notable being the failure of our alarm clock to go off at the performances start. Inadvertently though, this showed the point the entire pieces point in one unplanned disastrous moment and revealed the truth of our performance: we are ruled by time and clocks and the failure of an expected alarm to go off threatened to throw the entire performance out of kilter. On the whole though, I feel we recovered well, our performance got across our key ideas as we intended it to and it grew as the day went on. As to improvements we may have made, perhaps we should have offered something that would have been more of a direct engagement to visitors, maybe encouraging them to assist us in the construction of the puzzle or join with the miming and rhythmic walking. However, this could be seen as a more childlike activity and as already mentioned; children appeared to be the demographic who most engaged with us. Overall I feel the collection of possessed time to have been the culmination of many interesting ideas and a pleasure to have been involved with.