Project Summary:
My performance piece, titled “The Art of Conversation”, focuses on the concept of genuine human communication, and the understanding/sense of relatability that follows afterward. In a world where violence and severe discrimination is rampant, I believe that things wouldn’t be so bad if people simply communicated with one another on a face-to-face level. My piece was not carried out as initially planned, but I still spoke with various people on/near campus. Our conversations were all fascinating, and I even made a few friends in the process. I wasn’t able to audio record any conversations, as everyone I spoke with wanted their voices to stay “unknown”. Regardless, they all gave me permission to freely disclose our discussions and the unique topics we touched upon. Unlike my original plan to set up a “sit-down”, I actually roamed around parts of campus and spoke with people at random. After introducing myself and the concept of my performance piece to the people I approached, I had them write their names and degrees in a little list. One of the people I spoke with wasn’t actually a student, so she decided to write down her occupation. The conversations lasted a varied amount of minutes, and only one of them actually hit the 20 minute mark. I was happy with how everything turned out, and much to my surprise, speaking to only 6 people gave me a lot to write about in relation to this project. Being that I have aspirations to be a comic artist/author as well as filmmaker, I think being able to connect to people plays a big role. A lot of stories I write are designed to be relatable, and being that I got to exchange life experiences with these people, I’ll definitely take into account the conversations we had when writing more in the future.
I’ll attempt to summarize the conversations to the best of my abilities and not make this paper too long. The first student I spoke with, Jayden, told me he was also an introvert like myself. However, he thought my piece was a cool idea, and the fact I was going out of my way to speak with people was “bold”. He gleefully told me how he became a big brother as of April 14, when his mother gave birth to his little sister. He asked if I had any siblings myself, and I gleefully told him I’m an only child. We spoke on the beauty of new life, and how, as the song goes, a baby changes everything. He told me that ever since his sister was born and he assists his mother in caring for her, he anticipates being a father someday. I told him I dream of being a father one day myself, and our conversation ended shortly afterward. Interestingly enough, we exchanged IG accounts. It’s always nice making new friends, especially when they’re African American like myself. After my ENGL class, I went down to GSUB in search of more folks. To my surprise, a close friend, Hung, was there. Me and Hung have not run into each other for about 2 months. We’ve both been busy with school and life in general, and don’t text as much as we used to. After telling him about my piece, we began to speak. Our conversation mostly centered around the frustrating nature of the KEAN/NJCU merger, and the possibility of my ex being pregnant. Don’t worry, the (hypothetical) kid isn’t mine. Funnily enough, a friend of Hung’s, named Julian, was coming from Hudson Community to visit his “hombre”. Hung introduced us once Julian arrived, and I brought up my project. The conversation I had with Julian was deep, and we got into topics of family tragedy and grief. We shared a few similarities, as his mother passed away the same year my father did(2022). He told me about how he loved his mother, and she was the light in his life during childhood. Julian’s home life was rough for the most part, as his father was affiliated with a gang and partook in various forms of criminal activity. He was also an alcoholic, and when angry enough, would beat a young Julian senseless. Though he had only physically attacked Julian a number of times, the ways in which he did were brutal and intense. Julian, not wanting to tell me all the specific things his father did, simply gave me one example. There was a time, late in the night, when his father came home bruised and bloodied. It seems there was a volatile dispute within the gang his father was a part of, and the man would subsequently take his frustrations out on his family. Interestingly enough, though he would slap and scream at Julian’s mother, he never did anything too severe towards her. It was young Julian that suffered the most trauma. That night, after arguing with his mother, Julian’s dad strangled him. If not for the mother finding a way to break the two apart, Julian may have actually died. He gets somewhat emotional telling me this part of my life, but sheds no tears. Hung continued to listen to our conversation with immense interest. Julian eventually told me that ever since his mother died four years ago, him and his father are on slightly better terms. His father, wracked with grief and remorse, found God, and begged his son to give him a “second chance”. He had already left the gang by the time the mother died, but was still a verbally abusive alcoholic. Despite all the horrible flaws this man had, Julian’s mother couldn’t bear to leave him. They were together until she passed away from illness. Julian, as he put it, "inexplicably" forgave his father. He said this decision was fueled by a sense of grief and spiritual understanding, as he believed God wanted him to let go. God wanted Julian to forgive his father and move on. Move on and be free.
Just as feared, I’ve spoken so much on this one particular conversation! Regardless, I’ll briefly summarize the remaining three. While exploring the third floor lobby within the George K. Building, I ran into a student named Joel. I actually shared a class with him last semester, but we never really spoke or got close. After explaining my project, we had a discussion on nihilism. We discussed how the violence and hatred seen across parts of the world can lead to a sense of giving up on life, and feeling as though persevering through personal struggle is pointless. However, we ended our conversation agreeing on the fact that life, since the beginning of time, has worked in cycles. There are bouts of war, then bouts of peace. There are periods of prosperity, then periods of poverty. Until the world finally ends sometime in the future, this is how it’ll always be. The next person I spoke to was Michelle. She was chilling by the on-campus parking lot when I headed off to get lunch, and I decided I’d speak to her next. She explained how she wasn't actually a student at our school, but was “in the neighborhood” visiting some cousins. She stopped her stroll to answer a few texts when I ran into her. We spoke about the daily struggles African Americans go through in the US, from menial forms of discrimination/stereotyping to outright racism. We ended our conversation by giving each other a few film recommendations(apparently, Michelle’s as big of a cinephile as I am). The last conversation I had was with a student named Ivellisses, in the Science Building’s first floor lobby. Coincidentally, Ivy was a Christain just like me, and we spoke on the importance of having God as a guide in daily life. She told me how she was born in the church, but after feeling as though there was no truth in the Bible sometime in her teens, backslid and denounced her faith. As of 3 years ago, she has found her way back to Christ and advises others around her to follow Him. We spoke on the importance of being honest with others when it comes to our beliefs, and why we shouldn’t fear or care what they think of us afterward. We eventually began critiquing the sinful behaviors we see in the nation, and abortion was a concept Ivy was most critical of. To put it simply, the both of us value all forms of life, and regardless of what media portrays/teaches, believe that abortion is wrong. Abortion is murder. I’m sure such a statement will come across as controversial, but it’s how we genuinely feel. Me and Ivy ended the conversation by exchanging numbers, stating that it’s good to network with like-minded people.
In closing, I'd say that my performance piece was a success. Though performance isn't inherently my thing, I wouldn't mind doing a similiar project like this in the future. As someone who advocates for genuine human communication and understanding, I believe that the world would be better a better place if people did more talking and less fighting. In a sense, my vision/concept of Utopia is a world in which people settle their disputes without violence or war, but by conversation.
Articles that relate to and emphasize the message of my project:
https://www.apa.org/monitor/2023/11/conversations-key-to-wellbeing
https://www.iese.edu/standout/face-to-face-conversations-power/
https://www.gse.harvard.edu/ideas/usable-knowledge/18/02/brain-changing-power-conversation
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/03/20/what-conversation-can-do-for-us
https://speakupconference.com/the-art-of-relatability/
Selected Quotes from Class Readings:
1."But for Leonardo, the act of experiencing a space, memory, or feeling is simultaneously an opportunity to reflect, meditate, and explore." (Performance, Pedagogy, and Philosophy (Interview with Shaun Leonardo))
2."Whereas painting and sculpture relied on expressive form and content to convey meaning, performance art forced viewers to engage with a real person who could feel cold and hunger, fear and pain, excitement and embarrassment—just like them."(Performance Art, an Introduction)
3."Activists ambush people on the street, clipboard in hand, asking people to sign petitions and donate money." (The Art of Activism)
4."Our creativity thrives when it canescape the chatter of our mind, or the chatter of other people."(The Art of Activism)
No comments:
Post a Comment