Digital Performance (2012)

This digital performance is concerned with the idea of layering, not only of multimedia with sound and video looping but also the layers applied daily to my face. Examining the metamorphosis that the face undergoes, the rigorous procedures performed to prepare the visage for the outside world, creating a state of flux and suggesting a fluidity of persona.

The video initially displays a video loop of the performers ‘naked face’. The performer goes through the routine of putting on a full face of makeup, with each layer of makeup applied live frames of that application are mixed into the video projection loop. Slowly the video loop becomes littered with flashes of these applications and eventually displays the finished ‘product’ - the socially projected image of the performer.

In a similar way to the video mixing, a musician provides a sound scape created from the use of looping and pedals. Each layer of makeup is accompanied by another layer of sound added to the audio loop, so that by the end the ‘busyness’ of the face is paralleled by the cacophony of the soundscape.

Trace video of the projected video output:

PAST SHOWINGS

51zero Festival
Oct 2012
Rochester Visitor Centre

51zero Voyager - Whitstable Biennale
Sat 2nd June 2018
Film Screening on the beach