performance proposal

For this project I want to continue a process I started in my drawing class which involves using my fists to punch charcoal onto paper. A lot of what I have been exploring this semester is not just the idea of masculinity being a violent force, but also new methods I can impose to create new images and marks. I think this way of drawing and creating a new surface texture to the paper fits well within my interests.

In a way the performance will be a test. I will set up a sheet of paper and stand above it. This is to initiate that there is a dominant force over the blank sheet. I will then dip my fists into a mixture of water and charcoal powder and punch the paper until it is covered. The idea of covering/changing the surface quality through the violence of the mark seems appropriate to me. Now how this becomes a test with involve how long I can punch the paper which is on the ground. I placed a sheet of cardboard under the paper to create some type of buffer the first time I tried this but it still was quite the difficult task.

I plan on doing this relatively up close. I think I will be bent over, full bodied in the shot, perhaps setting up a second camera to catch a even closer cropped shot of the paper and the mark making. I want the setting to be a clean white room with no distractions. I will wear either white or dark color work clothes or coveralls.

Some differences that could be made would be what I'm wearing. For example, I could wear some type of business suit? Maybe go all out drag queen with business suite? Should the performance take place outside? In a forest? in a mall? Suburban neighborhood? All of these I believe would give the piece a more layered meaning I suppose but would also take away from the simplicity of the act.

I'm also wondering about paper size? I want to go big but I don't think I could cover a large sheet of paper. But it must be larger than 18 x 24 at least.