"Separate"is
a performance series that mixes technology with live
action performance. The struggle of the performer,
as he wanders the streets or a confined space, is enhanced
by the animated imagery projected onto the ground ahead
of him. Images of individual struggle are projected
into this live scene of a man pulling a weight. With
the metaphorical weight of the world in tow, the performer
makes slow progress in solitude.
"Separate" also
provides a metaphor for struggles of mankind against
the world of their creation. To be human is to struggle
with the human condition, but it is also to struggle
to exist physically within the constructs of mankind...
even the most far removed tribal communities are effected
by, and interconnected with, world affairs, the internet,
cell phones and other technological achievements. The
trials of nature have all but been replaced by human
constructs, especially in the Western world, so the struggle
for survival becomes a struggle to fit in to society
and to function as befits a productive member of the
community. While we all experience a degree of personal
isolation, those outside of society suffer an isolation
uniquely extreme; the struggle to survive within the
system is doubled by the rejection inherent in that system;
personal isolation is compounded by physical, technological
and financial isolation.
Like a modern Sisyphus, or Beckett's iconic walkers,
the performer is locked into a pattern of endlessly moving
a weight, a burden, while surrounded by reminders of
his status and the workings of the machine that provides
his burden. He may rest from time to time, but when he
arises, the pattern continues, rest being just another
phaze of the pattern.