Artist Statement

Have you ever looked in the mirror and disliked almost everything looking back at you?

Do you ever go out and feel invisible and lack confidence?

Well fear no more because I, Jess Seal, have the solution!!!

I am a performance artist who looks closely at confidence and I almost always answer YES to the questions above.

I use my work in order to explore who I am by creating performances that will test my confidence.

My work is humorous, colourful and above all FUN. I use music along with bright lights and photography in order to explore who I am and allow audience members to explore themselves. My work deals with serious issues about confidence but is always positive. My performance aims for every audience member to leave with at least an inch more confidence. Not only this but I can guarantee you WILL leave with a smile. 

Project Description

Trio of Desserts (name not confirmed) is a three-part performance that looks closely into body image, using the idea of the male gaze.

The male gaze deals with gender power drawing close reference to media. What we are presented with in many films and music videos comes from male desires of the perfect female image. Women are shown in a sexualised way in order to adhere to what males want to see. They are always the object of the gaze rather than the owner.

For example lots of music videos today show women in an over sexualised way wearing little amounts of clothes and doing provocative dance moves. This sexualisation has resulted in many women today feeling insuperior. Plenty of women spend large amounts of time wishing they looked like the girls on screen and no wonder when beauty campaigns promise ‘celebrity results’. But, what I have learnt to realise over time is that looking like these girls is impossible. We can never become the women in the music videos or films because these women don’t actually exist. They are airbrushed, they have fashion designers, they have hairdressers etc.

My performance aims to address this sexualisation and turn it on its head by contradicting the idea of the perfect body image. I want women to understand these perfect body images we see on the screen aren’t real and as a result to all start to try and feel comfortable with who we are.

Each part of my performance uses different theatrical conventions but together holds a strong message.

The performance will get more colourful and musical as it goes on and as a result will reach a dramatic and effective climax.

The first part of the performance includes issues around weight and looks into the ‘perfect’ body weight, if one does exist.  Audience members will have to deal with issues around their weight and have to watch other audience members do the same.

The second part of the performance uses a performative style lecture to introduce my key issues to the audience. The audience will observe a documented version of a previous research performance I have undertaken. They will see through photography and the duration of the performance the personal struggles I went through and what I learnt throughout. This will result in the audience getting to know who I am and help them relate to the issues in the piece.

This performative lecture aims to do this by engaging with the key issues in a fun and vibrant way. I will be using upbeat songs from different musicals, care free bedroom dancing and perhaps some audience participation for them too to feel care free and fun.

The final part of the performance is the most dramatic, contradictory and colourful. In this part of the performance you will see the climax to the whole piece. You will see an; overdone, sparkly costumed, high heeled, sexualised women on stage. Using the idea of musical theatre you will hear a song from ‘Guys and Dolls’, and see this sexualised female figure perform, whilst stripping back to her natural form. As she strips back you should see the performance improving, thus showing how make up and over the top clothes can only give you confidence to a certain extent.

We have to be happy with who we are!

As the audience get to know ‘who I am’ in the second part of the performance, this final contradictory image of song and ‘strip back’ will help the audience see the journey I have been through and then relate the message to themselves and their own confidence issues.

Case Studies

Hannah Wilke

I am extremely interested in the work of Hannah Wilke and have researched into her performance style in order to help me create my work.

Hannah Wilke is a performance artist who looks at her own image as a starting point for her work. When creating performance she establishes herself as the artist and the subject.

Wilke is highly interested in photography. Throughout her process she uses her body, along with photography in order to document her ideas and performances. Not only this but Wilke explains that the use of photography is another way for the audience to examine her body.

Wilke’s use of photography interests me and links directly to my work. Throughout my research process I have used Wilke’s idea of photography to document some of my work. I believe photography helps audience members understand what I am exploring in a much clearer way. Not only this but I am going to adapt Wilke’s idea of photography and use it in my final performance. This will show not only the research I have done throughout, but I believe, will help me frame my performance and allow audience members to examine my body, similar to Wilke.

Wilke’s photography makes her look vulnerable and as a result helps address her exploration to the audience. I have used this idea of vulnerability in my photography and also in my own performance so I too can make a clear message to the audience.

Wilke has created many different performances throughout her time using her body as a starting point but a few have really stood out to me. One of her pieces (performed in 1975) is called ‘Hello Boys’. This was a twelve-minute production where she was seen naked behind a large fish tank as ‘she performed the repertoire of studied erotic gestures along side rock music’[1]. Wilke has explained that this performance questions the idea of sexual power and powerlessness and she describes herself as both subject and object throughout. Wilke explores female sexuality and the male gaze and this links very specifically with my own work. I am exploring the female body along with not only the male gaze, but also at how females ‘gaze’. I aim to challenge the idea of the perfect body just as Wilke challenges female sexuality.

‘Through the Large Glass’ is one of Wilke’s most successful performances and also my favourite. In this piece she performs a striptease behind ‘Duchamp’s The Bride Stripped Bare’ by Her Bachelors, Even. In Wilke’s performance she dresses as a 1970’s fashion icon, she does a series of poses then strips in a monotone deadpan way. When performing this strip she is seen ‘through the large glass of the Duchamp’s sculpture’[2].

Throughout this performance Wilke ‘uses her own image and sexuality to confront the erotic representation of women in art history and popular culture’[3]. As we can see, Wilke’s work links directly to my own. She confronts the representation of women using music and this is what I aim to do. Wilke uses a piece of music and does something with it that is contradictory. I have used this idea to create part of my performance and believe the contradictory image along with the song will be a great way in getting my message across to the audience.

Tehching Hsieh

Another artist I have drawn close reference to is Tehching Hsieh. Although Hsieh’s work does not link as directly to my own as Wilke’s, some of his ideas have helped me frame my performance.

Tehching Hsieh is a performance artist who ‘makes art and life simultaneous’[4]. A lot of his performances are durational (usually lasting a year or longer) and take a lot of dedication and belief to keep them up. One of his performances I found most interesting took place from 1978 to 1979 in which he locked himself in solitary confinement. He did not have any contact with the outside world, no paper, no radio, no television etc. The only contact he had was from his friend Cheng Wei Kuong who ‘facilitated the piece by taking charge of his food, clothing and refuse’[5] Hsieh’s durational work has helped me create one of my research projects called Plain Jane. Plain Jane was a performance where I did not wear any make up or figure hugging clothes for a week. I used Hsieh’s idea of art and life as simultaneous and realised I couldn’t have just done this experiment for a day. In order for the research to be effective the performance would have to become part of my life, and this is what I did.

Although he doesn’t explain this directly Hsieh’s work has a great deal to do with succeeding. Hsieh had to have sheer determination in order to fulfill these yearlong tasks and this too links with my Plain Jane performance. Before starting the performance of Plain Jane I was extremely determined and ‘knew’ I would be able to do it. However this was not the case. During my performance of Plain Jane there were at least two times where I failed to follow the exact guidelines. I did not realise the dedication and determination I would need in order to complete this. Hsieh finished many, if not all, of his yearlong performances, his success along with my failure has helped me understand what I want to show to the audience in a clearer way. I was not as dedicated to the performance as I should have been because I did not fully believe in what I was doing, unlike Hseih in his performances.

Although his initial experiments are different from mine I have used the idea behind them in order to research my own believes and come up with some strong results.

When participating in ‘Plain Jane’ I originally wanted it to be for research. However, after looking into the work of Tehching Hsieh I have come to realise these durational experiments can be the performance themselves. Hsieh’s yearlong experiments were the performance and I am going to use this idea and incorporate what I did during ‘Plain Jane’ into my performance.

---

[1] http://www.eai.org/title.htm?id=1149 [accessed 2^nd March]

[2] http://www.eai.org/title.htm?id=1787 [accessed 2^nd March]

[3] http://www.eai.org/title.htm?id=1787 [accessed 2^nd March]

[4] http://www.tehchinghsieh.com/ [accessed 3^rd March]

[5] http://www.tehchinghsieh.com/ [accessed 3^rd March]

Scratch 2 - Performance Ideas

After doing my first scratch I have realised I need to frame my work and answer a few questions in order for my message to come across in a clear way to the audience.

I have decided to call my performance 'Trio of Desserts'

As a result I am going to add the past three experiments I have done and fit them together into one bigger performance. As of yet I am struggling to decide how to link the three together but am hoping that my scratch helps me do this.

Part 1 = Why Wait?

When the audience come into the theatre they will be presented with a weighing scales. Each audience member will have to weigh themselves and be asked to shout out their weight. Shouting out their weight is not compulsory but I am going to ask them and see if they do so. The reason for this is so the audience members are already thinking about weight and body issues even before the performance has begun.

Part 2 = Take Back Your Mink

I am then going to do my performance of take back your mink turning the idea that wearing make up and a snazzy costume will make you confident on its head by being a better performer when I am in my comfortable clothes without make up on.

Part 3 = Plain Jane

I will then end the performance with more of a documentary lecture on my Plain Jane performance showing others how it made me feel living for a week without make up or doing my hair. 

I am hoping that adding these three things together will help frame my performance idea and give the audience some context.

Scratch Number 1 Final Ideas

Hannah Wilke's performance 'Through the looking glass' (which is discussed below) has been one of my main influences in creating my final idea.
I am going to use the idea of music and do something over that music that is contradictory.

As a result I have decided that I am going to perform the song 'Take Back Your Mink' from Guys and Dolls. First of all I will start with an exceptionally large amount of makeup on, including a wig and extremely fancy over the top costume. I am going to start performing the song in a very dead pan way for about 30 seconds. I will then pause the music and pretend I have gone wrong and ask to start again. As I do this I will take off some of my make up or take off some of my outfit then press play on the song again. As more of the make up and costume comes of my performance will get better and better until the very end where I will have not make up on and be in a nude leotard and the performance will be fun and enthusiastic. This will hopefully show that the more natural and true to yourself you are then the better you will perform. Not just perform on stage but also in life.

Hannah Wilke

Hannah Wilke is a performance artist who looks at her own image as a starting point for her work. As a result she has become a big influence in creating my own performance.

Wilke was highly influenced by photography using it to document her performances and her ideas and as a result established herself as the artist and the subject of her work. This links to my performance of PLAIN JANE that is documented below. I too used photography in order to document my work and help others relate to it. 

Wilke's photography work makes her look very vulnerable and maybe I could work on the vulnerability more in my photos. 

One of Wilke's performances was called 'Hello Boys' which she performed in 1975. This was a 12 minute production where she was seen naked behind a large glass fish tank performing a repertoire of studied erotic gestures along side rock music. She is described as both subject and object, questioning the idea of sexual power and powerlessness. Wilke explores female sexuality and the male gaze. (Both of these which I have explored below)

Wilke used her body as a means of asserting a specifically female iconography. Her work was explored through; posturing, posing and gesture.

'Through the large glass' is one of Wilke's most successful performances. In this piece she performed a deadpan striptease behind Duchamp's The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even. (This song seems to be the start of a musical and seems is three men talking about a 'blushing bride'. The music is very upbeat and in the video we see the bride slowly taking off her wedding dress in different layers with her underskirt etc. At the end of the song we learn that she is in fact posing for a magazine) In Wilke's performance she dresses as a 1970's fashion icon and does some poses, then she strips. She uses her own image and sexuality to confront the erotic representation of women in art history and popular culture. 

This performance is extremely interesting to me because she confronts the erotic representation of women, and this is what I want to do. She also uses music in her performance linking with my interest of musical theatre. 

What seems to stand out most prominently to me is that she uses a piece of music and does something over the top of it that contradicts the song. This helps get the message across. She picks an idea and turns it on its head and this is what I want to do.

Scratch Performance Number 1

Ideas for scratch performance due on 5th March:

• Provide the audience with mirrors
• Sit the audience in the round
• Performance happens in the middle
• Ask the audience to look at themselves in the mirror for quite a long period of time, almost too long
• Ask the audience to shout out the one thing they dislike about what they see
• Ask them to shout it out again even louder
• Ask the audience to shout out the one thing they like about what they see
• Ask them to shout it out again 

I am still unsure what I am going to do with this small idea but I want the audience to feel as though they can relate to my performance and focus on the things they like and dislike about themselves when they look in the mirror. My aim is to make them see that the bad things aren't really that bad.

• Shout out what I dislike about what I see
• Shout out what I like about what I see -People don't like to acknowledge what they like about themselves because they think they are being big headed. But really they are accepting what they have been given and enjoying it.
• Come on stage with a fancy yet revealing costume on, lots of make up, hair all done up ready to perform.
• Start performing the performance, 'Take Back Your Mink' from the musical "Guys and Dolls".
• Unsure as of yet how I am going to perform it. Is it going to be over the top? I know I want to dance but I don't know about the singing part.
• When the instrumental of the song comes on start taking off my outfit
• Left in a nude, skin tight catsuit so everyone can see my figure
• Tie my hair up
• Take of my make up in front of everyone and stand there with the music on and stood as a 'natural' figure.

I want people to question how they view women in film and also women to question how they portray themselves. I want people to do things for themselves and not for others.