How did it go? (Mannequin- Dress me up!)

Mannequin - Dress me up! was on last Tuesday. As opposed to the last piece (What you see is what you get?) it was done only once and was not originally designed for a limited number of spectators even though the space was much smaller than last time. The wall that divided me from the audience had little holes, which were for spectators to look through; this was their only way of seeing me. I must be honest, I expected less people to come, so I didn't put a limit to the number of spectators and it was my intention to pose an obstacle to their vision. While last time the performance took place in stark darkness, giving the possibility to each member of the audience to see by using a torch, this time the white space was heavily lid up, almost like a photo studio, but visual access was denied by closing the overall view and opening up little details that, given the number of spectators, one had to take turns to see.

Everyone brought a piece of clothing and placed it just under the separation wall (which was rising seventy centimetres from the floor). As they came in I could hear comments, laughs and realised how everyone was trying to find a place where to stand and be able to see. During the performance I sensed that people were taking turns to look through the holes as I saw the shapes of eyes changing in their little holes. From the video documentation I watched last night I could see that there was a lot of movements within the audience, and it was my intention to put them in a situation of 'Where do I go to see?'. By the end almost everyone was sitting on the floor, watching me from unedrneath, as I finished folding their clothes to give them back.

My physical presence on stage was very much based on free movement and improvisation, as I wore the audience's  clothes for the first time. I tried to interpret their clothing and how it felt with my movements in space, strongly opposing the view to judging clothes by their looks. This is why I had a tv set playing a Valentino fashion show catwalk in loop, where clothes were there for everyone to look at. Although my performance did not refer to the fashion industry in any way, I found the catwalk an appropriate example of how people judge something by only looking at it. What would the audience think they would see upon entering if a fashion show was playing at the entrance? It is about clothes, and each spectator had one piece of clothing to give, and it is about looking at clothes...but the performance made of looking and seeing a technique each spectator had to develop on their own.

The soundtrack of the piece was once again a collaboration with writer and musician Giacomo Natali. I wanted to have some pauses of silence every now and then, when spectators could perceive me breathing or walking, even though some of them didn't see me. The sounds used were those of different sewing machines, the rhythm of which was transformed into that of the beats of a mechanical typewriter, thus suggesting that clothes can assume character according to who wears them rather than being produced to be looked at and chosen for their appearance.

The participation of the audience consisted in providing the costumes for the performance, just like spectators provided the light in What you see is what you get?. They were also induced to interact within the space and each other, in their choice of how much on stage to see and from which angle.

I am quite happy with the the result and believe that I can develop some elements further, incorporating them with some of the discoveries I made with the past project, shifting slowly to the outlines of my final piece in September. 


Feedback from spectators was greatly appreciated. Some had enjoyed the 'non seeing' part of the show, while others suggested the holes were much bigger for everyone to see better. But I definitely think that the use of the 'hole wall' can be developed further and used in different ways.

I was very lucky to have a photograher at the performance this time, Simon, and soon hope to have some professional photos from the show to put up!