Watching; Waiting

YD0097

watching; waiting
durational performance
Convergence International Arts Festival
Providence, RI, USA
photo by Bob Raymond

YD0098

watching; waiting
durational performance
Convergence International Arts Festival
Providence, RI, USA
photo by Bob Raymond

YD0004

watching; waiting
durational performance
Convergence International Arts Festival
Providence, RI, USA
photo by Bob Raymond

YD0003

watching; waiting
durational performance
Convergence International Arts Festival
Providence, RI, USA
photo by Bob Raymond

DSC01028&eyelight150

watching; waiting
durational performance
Convergence International Arts Festival
Providence, RI, USA
photo by Bob Raymond

eyelgDSC01601

watching; waiting
durational performance
Convergence International Arts Festival
Providence, RI, USA
photo by Bob Raymond

YD0009_adj

watching; waiting
durational performance
Convergence International Arts Festival
Providence, RI, USA
photo by Bob Raymond

YD0006

watching; waiting
durational performance
Convergence International Arts Festival
Providence, RI, USA
photo by Bob Raymond

YD0095

watching; waiting
durational performance
Convergence International Arts Festival
Providence, RI, USA
photo by Bob Raymond

'Watching; Waiting' was performed in the KGB Officer's cabin on a circa 1965 Russian Submarine in Providence, Rhode Island.

event:
Juliett 484 project, a Polish/US exchange project of Mobius, Inc.
venue:
Russian Sub Museum, Collier Point Park
location:
Providence, Rhode Island, USA
sponsor:
Mobius, Inc. and Convergence International Arts Festival
date:
September 2003

Project Notes:

The presence of a Cold War era Russian submarine in Providence, RI, goes nearly unnoticed. Is that what we think of the Cold War as well? We seem to have forgotten its lessons in this new War on Terrorism.

The cabin in the submarine that attracted my attention was that of the political officer, a member of the KGB. Different stories were relayed to us about this cabin: it was the only one that could be locked; it had a connection to the ship’s ventilation system in which cyanide could be inserted in the event of capture; that the PO watched the members of the crew including the captain; that he was the only one in contact with Moscow and relayed their orders. All these comments aligned with my Hollywood images of the KGB…

Propaganda… I can’t help but think of President Bush, his War on Terrorism, and the Alerts from our Department of Homeland Security.

The performance that I created conflated the two worlds, in an attempt to question old and new ideologies.

Severely dressed in a black jumpsuit, my hair in two braids circling my head, I positioned myself at the desk in the Political Officer’s cabin, with my back to the door. Cold War era military documents lay on the desk.

On the wall in front of me was a mirror, which allowed me to see who was standing in the doorway behind me. On the desk was a small video monitor, surveying the passageway. And directly outside the door another video monitor with my eye, watching the audience as they came down the passageway.

Whispering into a microphone, my voice infiltrated the adjacent cabins. I read Information Bulletins from the US Department of Homeland Security. It was a straight reading of the material, with no irony, no questions, giving full authority to its vision of the world.

The audience sat in the small officers’ cabins along the passageway to listen to the whispering voice. With a shock they realized that it was not historic Russian propaganda to which they were listening, but rather current Advisories and Alerts from our own U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Not until the audience moved further along the passage did they became aware of the eye watching them, or of my live presence, sitting in the cabin, reading, whispering the directives.

Only one audience member dared to enter the cabin to examine the books, though several were bold enough to push open the sliding door. Few lingered once I looked at them through the mirror.

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