I wanted to create a narrative for the piece, utilizing a dramatic arc structure to punctuate the beginningless and endless format of durational work.
Narrative Structures Info. (2024). Dramatic Arc. [online] Available at: https://typoistd.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/wk1_narrative_structures.pdf
The setting of the space played a big part in it; the performance began from the moment the audience entered the hallway outside the performance space – which functioned as the exposition to the piece. On the wall they found a sign setting up the rules for the space; I asked them to leave their personal belongings in the hallway – which was looked after by an attendant – to be able to leave the daily routines behind, and to become more receptive to the piece. On that same sign I gave these prompts:
Mikä on koti*? What is home?*
Mitä koti merkitsee sinulle? What does home mean to you?
Kun ajattelet kotia, mihin kuljet mielesi maisemassa? Where do you travel in your mind when you think about home?
When the first participants entered the space I stood in the water container in the middle of the space, present and I let them into the world by establishing eye contact. I wanted to establish the piece with an inciting incident, and to repeat the questions and thoughts of home and the looseness of that concept through the short monologue I gave. This functioned as the beginning for the rising action.
“I have grown my roots in the air, not the land. There is no one place I can call home, just moments, memories, people.”
The steady accumulation of the cards functioned as the rising action; the repeated action of answering the prompts by writing, reading them out loud and placing them in the space. This created a visual and tactile reference of the thoughts, reflections, and feelings around the experiences of home and what it means to the people who shared the space on that day.
The moment of returning back to the water towards the end of the performance became the climax of it.
“When it is time, the performer will take one last look at the installation that now meanders across the space. Then, she goes to pick up a card from the wall and places it in the water container. The blue ink dissolves in the water leaving a blank white card and a memory behind. This action is repeated until all the cards are destroyed – leaving no physical object of the shared experiences, or the performance.“