XYZ.a Collective
Transference was a collaborative artwork featuring thirteen individual artists who came together to create a performance as a part of UKYA's Nottingham City Takeover.
The collaborative performance occupied the Old Market Square in Nottingham city centre, placing us at the heart of the city, which provided us with a curious and ranging audience.
Transference, the title of the whole collaborative artwork posed questions around womanhood in the 21st Century.
Each individual artist's performance explored a different aspect of what it means to be a woman in today's society, ranging from personal safety issues to progressing in a male dominated career.
Each performer wore black tape over their mouth to symbolise voicelessness of those disadvantaged women who are unable to speak up for themselves and have their voices heard.
My piece - 'Futile'
My piece, titled 'futile' raised issues around women's personal safety and the subject of self defence.
The performance was durational as I struggled to 'fight' against a heavy concrete block in my lap for a full hour, pushing and pulling it around in a repetitive manner, striking it constantly using my feeble strength.
My weapon of choice were metal keys which I held between each finger, mirroring the actions of women walking alone at night.
The performance was gruelling and demoralising as passers by either ignored my effort or stood before me criticising my actions, even labelling it as "aggressive" and "intimidating", adding another interesting element to the subject of women's issues in the 21st Century.
