I’ve been thinking a lot about this. Too much, as it turns out from some conversations :)

So here’s some final thoughts, without any particular order, as I don’t have the time to rewrite the concept properly at this moment.

• There were too many ideas in my last concept. Enough to make not one, but many works of art. Let’s stick with one for the sake of clearness: social behaviourisms
• This is art. Art should be understandable (or at least “feelable”) to anyone, even to the person who just walked in to the gallery and has no clue about the concept, or what “the author had in mind”. Therefore, let’s utilize the KISS rule (Keep It Simple Stupid), so no over-intellectualization. People are not coming to a science, or philosophy class, but to be entertained in some way or another, to experience something new.
• Formulating the ultimate thesis of the project – one sentence, that would define it. So here it is:
  Concious and individualistic behaviour can lead to alienation, because each and everyone of us plays a part in the social play, and therefore is its slave and its beneficiary
• As you might have noticed at the end of that thesis – I have balanced the topic a bit. I am no longer saying or forcing people to think: “this is bad, deal with it”, but rather keeping the matter open to thought process of the viewer
• Art is best when it does not need an interpreter, or needs the least amount of interpreting (and therefore the semantic substructure is simple). Like music, that is just such a nice and raw experience
• Art shouldn’t ask questions directly. Art should inspire questions and perhaps provide a possible answer (or answers).
• How to show the value of social behaviourisms while not diminishing the opposites, the alienation of a non-conformable individual? Make an ambiguous experience. My take on this is that there will be two “rooms”, or two sides of the installation, where one is just showing how things are, and the other one is taking the notion to the extreme.
• I am using only “real” footage. Real photos and real videos from different time periods, plus real paintings – depicting a set of social rules.
• There is a button. Hopefully a big, red, industrial one. It changes everything :) Takes the viewer from one concept to another one.
• Between 4-5 actors is the number
• Considered social constructs:
  • handshake
  • eating
  • posing for a photo / painting / drawing
  • …will need to think about this more :)

That’s all I remember at the moment. I will write more ASAP. The next step is to list the actual tools required to build this, and then also all the things that I need to do and think about. Make some sketches. Off the top of my head some things come to mind:

• lighting
• sound environment and PA
• projection and video 3D mapping
• what am I projecting on
• do I use any real life items on the set
• the floor (what do I do with it?)
• the title ;-)

It is so great to have all these fantastic people as friends who are so willing to help me out with their own life experience of art-making processes. Special thanks to Waldemar Raźniak (a Polish director), who has been like a mentor to me in so many ways, and that’s not only with this project, but with perceiving art and theatre in general. Clearly, his replies to my concepts persuaded me to rethink so many things, and thus to change and clarify the project – to really take it “back and down to earth” and synthesize it. Another person I’d like to thank here is Janusz Musiał, a Media Installation artist from Poland who just recently received his PhD in Photography. Despite his slight sickness on the day of our meeting, he helped me to clear out the visual side of the installation.