Joshua Rivas - Week 6

Dialogical Art

I personally really connect with Suzanne Lacey's "The Roof Is On Fire" Project.

-Meet the audience and the others involved where they are at. In Lacey's project the dialogue served as a tool that allowed the audience to watch and have their thoughts and the restrictions from their involvement in the conversation gave them permission to have their thoughts to themselves. The people involved could not talk about anything else other then what was prompted and what they have to say on that subject is where they are at and they are in a space of a car which is intimate, which creates this idea that no one can hear or see your thoughts.

-Abolishes Stereotypes or preconceptions of this group of people. Audience members would have come to this event with many ideas of these teenagers but giving themselves the opportunity to really listen and hear how these teens thought and felt would shift the inner thoughts of any audience member. Since the audience member is left to be silent they also cannot battle, defend, or refute these teens so the teens are heard exactly the way they want to be heard.

-Authentic Dialogue. The teenagers have nothing to lose or gain but to be authentic in their conversations.

-Allows the audience and participant to discover and expand for themselves through the process. So the participant may at times act as an audience member being changed by the art or dialogue. The teens had multiple moments where the discussion between peers would have been met at a place of conflict and either it remained a conflict or not the space created was safe and allowed each side to be heard and this allowed all parties to pause and really hear what others have to say.

-Live Dialogical Art is powerful and the voice speaks to the audience on many different levels. Hearing these teens speak and the tones in the voice and seeing their eyes and fiction in their bodies brings art to life. Using the body as a place for art is so extremely powerful and using teenagers who may not be performers and putting them in this situation really creates potent and strong art.