Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Closed for Cleaning


Caitlin Albritton
                                                Closed for Cleaning
            We were challenged to perform a drawing without using traditional media in our execution. Though I deeply admire performance art created by others, I am loath to present it myself. As it was, I was inspired by some mirrors I had used in another project. Mirrors are such a charged object, tying into vanity, mortality, beauty, self-esteem, reflection, perception, and more. I was particularly interested in its role within vanity. I wanted to contradict the mirrors traditional role in narcissism and pride by using it as a canvas in which to display my bodily imperfections. To be specific, the oil that builds on my face. Here is my score.

The performance will take place in a women’s bathroom.
Upon entering, the artist will put up a sign that reads, “closed for cleaning”
The artist will begin with a clean mirror that she can hold.
She will press her face into the mirror and smear all sides of her face across the surface.
Remove face from mirror and regard the marks left by the oils momentarily.
Spray the mirror with youthful, floral perfume as if it were window cleaner.
Wipe away grease with a washcloth, applying more perfume as needed.
Once the mirror is cleaned, leave the bathroom, and remove the sign.

C. Albritton
(2015)

            I chose to perform this in the women’s bathroom for two reasons: a bathroom is a private space in which women often ready themselves to be seen in the public eye, and because men are restricted. Though men may occasionally feel the pressures to look and smell and behave a certain way, I don’t believe it comes close to the expectations placed on women. Men are welcome to view the piece, but they must first enter the women’s private space. I chose a bathroom for its intimacy. It is in a private place where a woman will hide her imperfections to prepare herself to be seen by those who expect her to seem perfect. It is where she shaves her legs, plucks her eyebrows, drains her blemishes, powders her nose, brushes her hair, paints her face, pinches her cheeks, hides her scars. I want the audience to feel voyeuristic, as if they’re intruding. They are watching as I present my unbecoming oil secretions, and they are watching as I cover it up.
            The oil smears are a representation of a natural body function that is seen as indecent, and thus shameful. A mirror is the only way I, or anyone, is able to see themselves, and so soiling it with my oils taints the only representation I have of myself. I use fake, astringent chemicals to wipe away the oils, leaving the mirror clean and pungent of flowers and sweetness, the essence of girlishness.  It also wipes away the essence of me. The pure and natural me. It denies my identity and my simple being, leaving a cold, hard, blank surface in which to reflect to the world. I find fault in society’s rejection of a woman’s natural being, and use this piece satirically to communicate this.  


References:
Pipilotti Rist
Marina Abromović
Yoko Ono
Jessica Ledwich 
Anna Mandeitta



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