THE PERFORMANCE OF ZOOM: TO AMELIA JONES

 THE PERFORMANCE OF ZOOM

 

THE PERFORMANCE OF ZOOM

AMELIA,  You mentioned  twice my "use of Zoom" during the interview.

As a performance artist,  my tendency is to  "use" every occasion as  material for actions that are  life-art or art-life.

I found the people attending the  7 hour event to be  playing:

 hide and seek

or 

 here i am,

 here i am not , 

or

  im coming 

and ive gone,

or

  im on chat,

 im off chat, 

or

 i was here earlier 

and came back later,

or 

my name is here but im not

or

, im here and my name is  too

or

your guess is as good as mine as to where i am/if im here/if im coming back

or

Zoom is a Game ,  watch me play!!!

I was fascintated/inpspired by them/applauding their gaming skills!!!!! i was applauding all of their permutations and loved it .

zoom has  created a theatre-like opportunity allowing for  so many various ways to be/be not present

the freedom is  heady, the permission is a given,  the creative  possibilities are  phenomenal.

 Does everyone love Zoom the way I do? Im sure there are many answers to this question.

i am not comfortable  being  TIED TO  ZOOM....it makes  me anxious

i move around  and change  positions and  move my screen  and  check to see how i want to be  seen by me and by others

the intimacy that i can achieve by bringing the  "mic" to my mouth allows me to use it as  a  device that allows me to make "sounds"   rather than a visual tool and  "face-catcher."

The fact that i have aged  with wrinkles  might be one reason that i need this  total "control" of the  screen but also, having been raised in very strict  spiritual traditions like Church/Confession with good and evil/ sitting  zen for long periods not moving and being hit on the shoulders when doing so....has led me to now, practice my own need for total  media freedom.....TOTAL FREEDOM WITH EVERYTHING!!!

i want  my zoom events to be more like  life-art and not just  life,

I prefer my zoom events are not an occasion for the  other zoomettets to read the book titles on my shelves.

i want to do zoom the way i am bodily  called to do it:  nervously/in -cognito/ coming and going/ making  a noir film via my own movements.

i want my nervous system to dictate  how  i move/see/look/respond.....

zoom is should-less and when i feel free to "play" performatively at being on zoom, then i love the tool!!!!  otherwise  NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Linda Mary  Montano  2020