A single word is ambiguous; there is huge room for interpretation. This 3-minute improvised performance is inspired by Erwin Wurm’s one-minute sculpture,1997.  It is delivered through collaboration with another artist, Jasmine Zhu. The stage separates the space into two equal spaces with a white curtain.  Two of us faced each side of the curtain, so the audience could see both sides.  Without negotiation prior to the performance, Zhu and I performed improvised whole-body gestures responding to 10 sets of one-word instructions such as “wrap”, “split” and “duplicate”.  Although with ambiguous prompts, out of 10 sets of performances, Zhu and I still managed to complete a synchronize gesture “distort”. 

 

Collaboration is an essential aspect of our project, as it indicates a reciprocal relationship between each other. We each came up with five abstract verbs to construct this performance. The duration of how long each word is to be delivered is 15 seconds. In addition, our prerecorded audio serves as an instruction for the “TODO.” In this piece, defining oneself to the Other completes the Other simultaneously. The darker overlaps of our shadows indicate how we come together as individuals and through communications, create a stronger bond. 

 

If we are presented with the possibility in the future to present this performance again in an ideal setup. We will explore our concept further by extending the performance length by repeating the movements several times. While observing each other’s shadows, we will aim to achieve a synchronized delivery of the words through a linkage of silhouettes. By trying to understand each other’s motions and gestures, we “talk” without words but understand each other through resonating our body language, like how mutual understanding is often achieved in life: through compromise and empathy.