"Elements of Suffering"
Description:
Aesthetics of endurance is a pervasive element for the Japanese, even for those scattered across the globe, having decided to be the nails that stick out, thus stepping out. To endure, or "gaman", is a suffering that is distinct from suffering often expressed in the West, as one sees represented on ecclesiastical art. There is no blessings, heaven or martyrdom - The payoff is in the suffering endured in itself. The beauty and power of endurance is to be admired in itself, as part of fulfillment of one's place and identity.
But the unasked question is this; what of the ones who create suffering in others? That's an area not explored much in a culture that's had ample opportunity to cause suffering to others, true for many peoples and nations that have committed atrocities, large and small. Far from being a time of peace and humanity as hoped for, today, the infliction of suffering is raising it's head again across the world.
This performance is physically and emotionally demanding on the performers as well as the witnessing audience. The formality of the theater puts the barrier of social pressure upon the witness from intervening. As the performance unfolds in it's self indulgent and unhurried pace, any emotional experience that the viewer will have - attraction, revulsion, amusement, anxiety, arousal, confusion, anger- will likely provoke conflict and turmoil within. How will these be reconciles in the individual harts and minds.
This particular execution of Elements of Suffering was an abbreviated form of the work in progress. We focused on Earth, Fire and Water.
I have consciously taken the gutter art of rope that's used as part of Japanese sexual play, then refined, extrapolated, deconstructed and rewove it, to explore identity, emotions, life philosophy and my personal sense of beauty.
As outsider artists I am constantly frustrated, specifically in the US, where my work is often dismissed performance for fetishistic or erotic entertainment. Can art not happen amid "pedestrian" entertainment venues? If a consciously taken art action moves the viewer to a moment of insight, aweof beauty, or profound and thoughtful inner turmoil, then what is art?
-Midori
