’35 minutes and counting’ is a performance I created with 4 other classmates at the university of Kent. We called our group ‘Pigs in Blankets’
’35 minutes and counting’ grew from a game taken out of a previous performance we performed at the Turner museum (called the Birthday party, a project we eventually left behind). The game incorporated tape. The aim was to tape someone up as fast as you could. Afterwards they had to get out of the tape. The one to get out first, won.
After leaving this project behind, we focused on this part of the performance. We wanted to work with tape but most importantly the perception of pain. Trying to get tape off bare skin can be daunting and painful, and can certainly leave what we call ‘war wounds’ behind.
The chronology would be: desperately getting out of the tape within 35 minutes, once out you would walk around the remaining performers who were still trapped in tape and watch their pain.The purpose of the performance was to show pain and people watching people who are watching others in pain. That perception was so important as it was a comment on our society. We wanted to comment on our society’s fascination with pain but also comment on trauma tourism. We set up camera’s which showed a live stream of the audience. We wanted to double this perception again and again, so that the audience would watch us in pain, then watch us watch others in pain, see themselves watching us and eventually watch themselves.
As a performer, the biggest challenge was performing through the pain, but more importantly indulging in the pain and letting it create an energy. Our rehearsal process was long and complicated. We threw so much away, only to recollect it later.
What remained with me from this performance is challenging the performer to work through a real experience of pain. The notion and importance of doubling that perception with a live stream is what remains most interesting in my mind. If I were to rework this performance, I would certainly do a lot of things different. For example, I would not let the performers, once out of tape, get dressed and walked around. I would want their perception of those still in pain to remain a focal point as well. I would perhaps shorten the time as well, and create a series around different materials, each one using 1 material.
Céline Deveux 